With 152 seats won in last weekend’s legislative elections, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) became Thailand’s largest party. On May 17, the MFP held its first face-to-face talks with five other parties in an effort to form a coalition government .
A new government will be formed in July, when Thailand’s House of Representatives and Senate meet to jointly choose a new prime minister. Since the Senate – whose members are handpicked by the pro -military government – also participates in the process, the leader of the party that won the May 14 general election is not guaranteed to take power.
Eight-Party Alliance
Representatives of five parties, mostly members of the opposition to the conservative pro-military government of outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, held talks for several hours on May 17. Afterwards, they emerged smiling and posed for photos with their hands clasped together in a show of unity.
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat meets with representatives of mainly conservative opposition parties at a restaurant on Sukhothai Road, Dusit district, Bangkok, May 17, 2023. Photo: Thairath
Chief among the MFP’s potential partners is the Pheu Thai Party, which has deep ties to the family of billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Pheu Thai is currently one of the largest parties in Thailand’s parliament, having led in the polls before the general election but ultimately finished second, with 141 seats.
“It went pretty smoothly,” said Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated entrepreneur, calling the coalition “a voice of hope and a voice of change.”
Mr Pita said all parties had agreed to support him as Thailand’s next prime minister. He also pledged to try to achieve stability in the country’s governance as much as possible and as quickly as possible, reiterating that there would definitely be no “political accidents”.
Together, Move Forward (152 seats) and the participating political parties – including Pheu Thai (141 seats), Thai Sang Thai (6 seats), Fair (1 seat), Prachachart (9 seats) and Seri Ruam Thai (1 seat) – have amassed 310 seats in the 500-seat Thai House of Representatives.
Late on May 17, Pheu Thai Party leader Chonlanan Srikaew said that two other political parties would join the coalition, including the Plung Sungkom Mai Party (1 seat) and the Pheu Thai Ruam Palang Party (2 seats), bringing the total number of seats won by the eight-party coalition led by Move Forward to 313 seats.
The road is long
With 313 seats, this number is more than enough for the MFP to form a new government, but still far short of the 376 seats needed to ensure Mr. Pita is elected as the next Prime Minister at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives next July.
Thus, the road from winning the election to forming a new government for Move Forward is still quite long.
Move Forward Party spokesman Rangsiman Rome told the media on May 17 that the party is seeking to revoke Section 272 of the Thai Constitution, which essentially affirms the Senate’s power to appoint the prime minister. According to the rules, a prime minister candidate must receive approval from more than half of the members of both houses combined (376 out of 700 members).
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenra and representatives of parties negotiating the coalition pose for a souvenir photo, with hands clasped together to show solidarity. Photo: Thairath
The spokesman argued that with the number of seats that a potential Move Forward-led coalition would win in the House of Representatives, the new government would be able to achieve political stability and implement the policies announced during the election campaign. He therefore questioned the role of the Senate in this election process.
A Move Forward spokesperson insisted that forming a government and seeking Senate support were two separate issues, noting that Section 272 should not have been included in the Thai Constitution in the first place.
However, Mr Rangsiman also said that Move Forward had sent people to contact some senators to convince them to support Mr Pita as prime minister, and that the party leadership was willing to be questioned by the Senate on issues that some considered controversial, such as the policy of amending the lèse-majesté law and Mr Pita's ownership of shares in a media company.
The monarchy is one of the pillars of Thai national identity and is seen as sacrosanct by conservatives. Meanwhile, many young Thais want to see it liberalised as part of a series of democratic reforms .
Minh Duc (According to AP, Thai PBS World, CNN)
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