PUBLISHED : 18 Jul 2023 at 06:18
Forty pro-democracy organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and civil society groups on Monday issued a joint declaration demanding parliament respect the result of the general election on May 14.
The joint declaration given to the media demanded the Senate recognise the public support for the Move Forward Party and back its leader to assume the role of prime minister.
It also urged the cancellation of Section 272 to remove the Senate’s right to co-elect the prime minister, as well as negate changes made to the electoral system by the Constitution Drafting Assembly of Thailand.
On July 13, the eight coalition parties designated Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat as their sole prime minister candidate following the MFP’s victory on May 14.
However, in the vote to select a new prime minister, Mr Pita received 324 votes in favour, 182 against, and 199 abstentions in the final tally among the 705 members participating, which fell short of the 375 votes he needed to take office.
Mr Pita received just 13 votes in favour from senators.
The declaration issued by pro-democracy groups said that the Senate had abused its authority by ignoring public consensus and violated Section 159 of the constitution regarding the endorsement of a prime minister.
The groups also decried the fact that the Senate was not appointed with public input or subject to public approval, having been appointed under Section 272 in the temporary provisions of the 2017 Constitution, written by the now-defunct coup engineer, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
Among the organisations to endorse the statement were the Union for Civil Liberty, Campaign for Popular Democracy, P-Net, the Pridi Banomyong Institute and the Thai Women’s Movement for Reform (WeMove).