Five hours allocated for parliamentary debate on Tuesday with final result expected by 5.30pm
PUBLISHED : 18 Aug 2023 at 16:52
Prime ministerial candidate Srettha Thavisin will not be asked to deliver a vision statement ahead of a parliamentary vote on Tuesday, a meeting to review procedures for the session has concluded.
The rules were agreed on by whips from the Senate and representatives of political parties who met on Friday with parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha.
Mr Wan said the joint sitting of the House and Senate on Tuesday would start at 10am, with five hours allocated for lawmakers to debate — 2 hours for senators and 3 hours for MPs. The vote is expected to start at 3pm and finish by 5.30pm.
Barring any last-minute surprises, the Pheu Thai Party as the head of the coalition is expected to nominate Mr Srettha, the former chief executive of the property developer Sansiri Plc.
Some backers of Mr Srettha were hoping he would have a chance to outline his views in the chamber, if only to win over some sceptical senators.
The Pheu Thai-led coalition is expected to have the support of 314 MPs, meaning it will need another 61 votes from senators to reach a simple majority of 375 out of the 749 members participating.
Mr Srettha did not seek office in the May 14 election as a constituency or party-list MP. There are no rules specifically barring a non-MP from addressing a parliamentary meeting, Mr Wan said.
However, those who attended Friday’s meeting did not believe it was necessary for anyone nominated for prime minister to give a vision statement because the constitution and parliamentary regulations did not stipulate any such requirement, he added.
When regulations regarding this issue were drafted in parliament, only 47 voted in favour of hearing from the candidate while 370 voted against, said Mr Wan.
The whips also discussed a motion raised by Move Forward Party list-MP Rangsiman Rome in a previous parliament session and agreed it could be debated on Tuesday, said the parliament president.
However, they argued that as parliament had earlier voted on the issue in line with parliamentary regulation No 151, the resolution could not be reviewed.
Mr Rangsiman said earlier on Friday that he would urge parliament to reconsider its decision on July 19 to reject the renomination of Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister.
That decision was challenged in the Constitutional Court, which declined to hear the case. It said that only the person directly affected by such a decision, in this case Mr Pita, had the right to file such a petition.