The Constitutional Court on Wednesday unanimously dismissed requests to defend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat's right to be renominated to parliament for prime minister, saying the petitioners were not the damaged parties.
The ruling clears the way for a new vote for prime minister, which Parliament President Wan Noor Muhamad Matha said would probably be held on Tuesday, Aug 22.
The court said the requests came from 18 people who voted for MFP in the May 14 general election, 13 other voters in the general election, and MFP MP Panyarat Nanthaphusitanont.
They asked the court to rule on the parliament's resolution on July 19 rejecting the renomination of Mr Pita for prime minister, because they considered the resolution violated their constitutional rights.
On Wednesday the Constitutional Court ruled that petitions it would consider must come from the people whose rights or liberties were directly violated by the exercise of state authority.
In this case, the petitioners were not nominated prime ministerial candidates and thus their rights or liberties were not directly violated. Therefore, the court decided unanimously to not accept the petitions for deliberation, the court said in its decision.
The parliament on July 19 rejected the renomination of Mr Pita for prime minister by majority vote on a procedural issue. His opponents argued that parliamentary regulation 41 bans the resubmission of a failed motion during the same session, and that included Mr Pita's renomination.
Mr Pita was renominated after his first attempt to become prime minister was voted down on July 13.
With Mr Pita's road to the premiership blocked, the Pheu Thai Party withdrew from the MFP-led coalition and is instead trying to form the next government with its own prime ministerial candidate, Srettha Thavisin.
MFP was the election winner with 151 House seats. Pheu Thai was second with 141 seats.
On July 19 the Consitutional Court suspended Mr Pita from working as an MP, pending its ruling on his parliamentary status in relation to his past shareholding in iTV Plc. The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running in a general election.
An Election Commission panel investigating the complaint was on Tuesday reported to have recommended dropping the charge.