Thai parliament to vote for prime minister on July 13
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat leaves after voting for house speaker, at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, July 4, 2023. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
BANGKOK — Thailand’s parliament will vote for a new prime minister on July 13, house speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Wednesday.
The announcement comes a day after Wan Noor was endorsed as house speaker, a role in which he is able to call for a joint sitting of the country’s bicameral legislature to vote on the next prime minister.
The election-winning Move Forward party and populist Pheu Thai trounced conservative rivals in a May ballot, securing 151 and 141 seats in the 500-member lower house, respectively.
Together with six other parties they are expected to propose Move Forward leader, the U.S.-educated Pita Limjaroenrat as the next premier to replace the incumbent Prayuth Chan-ocha.
However, with 312 votes the alliance is short of the 376 votes that Pita needs in the joint sitting, which includes a conservative-leaning 250-member senate, who were appointed during military rule.
