Parliament rejects Pita’s renomination for PM

The joint House and Senate sitting voted to reject the renomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister because a parliamentary regulation bans it, Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said.

Mr Wan made the announcement after 715 parliamentarians voted electronically about 5.10pm on Wednesday. The parliament president called the vote after a lengthy debate on the issue, which  started shortly after the meeting opened at 9.30am.

In the joint sitting, 395 parliamentarians voted against Mr Pita’s renomination, 312 voted to support it, eight abstained and one did not excise the right to vote.

Mr Wan said the rejection was by majority vote, because half the votes in the joint sitting was 374. The number was adjusted after Pita was suspended from duty as an MP by the Constitutional Court earlier in the day.

Before the vote, parliamentarians spent hours disputing whether the renomination was allowed or not. 

Opponents said parliamentary session regulation No.49 prohibited the resubmission of a failed motion to the parliament during the same parliamentary session. They said Mr Pita’s nomination had been rejected last week and there was no new development that could justify its resubmission.

Pro-Pita parliamentarians emphasized that the regulation applied to general motions and not to the prime ministerial nomination. They said that it was a nomination, not a motion. They also said that parliamentarians should respect the choice made by the voters at the May 14 general election.

Mr Pita’s Move Forward Party won the election with 151 House seats. Recently he said he would make way for the Pheu Thai Party to nominate a prime minister if his bid failed.

Pheu Thai won 141 House seats and the two parties are the key members of the eight-party coalition.