Appointed senator says PM must possess leadership and be accepted by all
Senator Wanchai Sornsiri says a group of senators, including himself, will not vote for Paetongtarn “Ung-Ing’” Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party to become the next prime minister.
The appointed senator on Saturday posted a message on his Facebook page saying, “250 MPs or senators, who will make a landside win?” He was referring to the vote for a prime minister in parliament.
Ms Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Pheu Thai’s chief adviser on public participation and innovation, vowed to lead the main opposition party to a landslide victory in the next general election, scheduled to take place on May 7 this year.
According to Mr Wanchai, any party with more than half of all MPs should be the core party to form a government, and both MPs and senators had agreed in this principle.
The selection of the prime minister was important as the person must possess leadership and gain acceptance from the parliament and the entire nation, he added.
“The prime minister’s post is not a toy for anyone or any clan,” Mr Wanchai wrote. “The prime minister is a symbol of pride for the entire nation, and it’s not right to make anyone prime minister like what happened in the past.”
“It’s a slap in the face for Thais and parliamentarians.’’
Mr Wanchai shrugged off a move by Pheu Thai to make a landside win in the upcoming election as announced in party campaigns by Ms Paetongtarn.
“I’ve clearly seen and heard that Pheu Thai will make a landside win, and it will select Ung-Ing as its prime minister. This is Pheu Thai’s matter, but my group and my allies will not vote for her. So, if Ung-Ing wants to be the prime minister, Pheu Thai must garner 376 votes and all of those votes must accept her.
“If the party is unable to achieve 376 votes, Ung-Ing’s path to be the next prime minister will grow dim,” warned the senator.
His comment was not an insult, but it was real politics, he wrote.
Ms Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra both led popularly elected governments toppled in coups. Ms Paetongtarn, 36, was a popular choice for the prime minister’s post in several opinion poll.
On Pheu Thai’s campaign to get 250 votes for its landslide victory in the upcoming election, he warned the party against votes by the Senate.
Wanchai Sornsiri and other senators are at a jont parliament session in June 2019 during a vote for the prime minister. (File photo Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
“Be careful, 250 senators will bounce back by a landslide. At the time, you may have to pray at Wat Kai Tia in Taling Chan,’’ wrote the lawyer-turned-senator.
The 250 members of the Senate were hand-picked by the coup-engineer National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which is now defunct. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was chief of the council, which overthrew the Pheu Thai-led administration in 2014.
Gen Prayut is now prime ministerial candidate of the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party, while the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) nominated its party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit for prime minister.