Pheu Thai candidate Srettha Thavisin won yesterday’s vote to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister, after bids to form a coalition government and select the nation’s new leader had dragged on for over three months following the general election.
The Move Forward Party (MFP), the election winner with the most House seats, failed in the first attempt on July 13 when Pita Limjaroenrat, the party leader and its sole prime ministerial candidate, did not receive enough support from MPs and senators.
The right to lead the formation of the next government and nominate a new prime ministerial candidate then shifted to Pheu Thai, which emerged as the runner-up on May 14.
Despite some accusations calling into question Mr Srettha’s code of ethics, the 61-year-old former CEO of property developer giant Sansiri Plc received 482 of the 747 MP and senator votes yesterday.
Some 165 MPs and senators voted against him, while another 81 abstained, and the other 20 people failed to identify themselves when they were called to give their votes.
“It’s my honour to be selected as prime minister today. I’d like to thank all the people — the coalition parties, MPs and senators — who voted for me today. I will try to perform my duty in the best interest of all Thais. Thank you,” Mr Srettha told reporters.
He said he would address the press again after a royal command endorsing him as prime minister election was issued.
House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha is now responsible for submitting that petition.
Yesterday’s vote saw the Democrat Party divided over whether the country’s oldest political party should support Mr Srettha, said a source.
The majority of Democrat MPs voted for him, while former party leader Chuan Leekpai and list-MP Banyat Bantadtan voted against, and list-MP Jurin Laksanawisit refused to vote, said the source.
According to another source within the party, a deal has been reached between some key Democrat figures and Pheu Thai, but it can’t be made public yet because the party has not reached a resolution on the deal.
According to their compact, however, the Democrat Party has agreed to Pheu Thai’s request for it to become a coalition party to ensure Pheu Thai would still have enough House votes at hand if the Bhumjaithai Party were to suddenly pull out of the Pheu Thai-led coalition, the source said. Also, as part of this deal, Pheu Thai will allocate one cabinet minister position and one deputy cabinet minister position to the Democrats in return for their support, the person added.
As a result, the Democrats will be divided as most of its MPs will be working in the new coalition, with the rest sitting on the opposition benches, said the source.
As soon as the vote’s result was known, MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon said the newly formed coalition government lacked unity despite claims to the contrary.
The parties are just voluntarily bowing to the remaining power of a regime that was installed in the wake of the 2014 military coup, he said.
“From now on, the MFP will be working as a proactive opposition party to protect the rights of every voter who has supported us,” he said.
Mr Pita said in a Facebook post the MFP won 14 million votes on May 14 because it worked hard for it and communicated in a transparent way with the public about its goals.
“We’re the party with the highest number of MPs, but other than those who support us, we have no one else [backing us in parliament],” said Mr Pita.
Bhumajaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul congratulated Mr Srettha and said his party was ready to work with Pheu Thai.
Prior to yesterday’s vote, a parliamentary debate was allowed on the suitability of Mr Srettha to become prime minister.