Subsequently, the Thai House of Representatives and Senate may convene on July 13th to vote on the new prime minister . According to Wissanu Krea-ngam, the new cabinet is expected to be appointed on July 21st, and the swearing-in ceremony could take place at the end of the month.
However, a source told the Bangkok Post that the aforementioned timeframes are general guidelines stipulated by law, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives has the final say.
Previously, on June 19, the Election Commission (EC) of Thailand approved the list of 500 elected members of parliament in the recent general election. According to the election results, the Forward Party (MFP) led with 151 seats, followed by the Pheu Thai Party (141 seats), the Thai Pride Party (71 seats), the People Power Party (40 seats), the United Thai National Party (36 seats), and others.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Forward Party, at an event in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2023. Photo: REUTERS
With this result, the new Thai House of Representatives will convene within the next 15 days, or at the latest by July 4th. Following that, the 500 newly elected members of parliament and 250 newly appointed senators will hold a general parliamentary vote to choose the prime minister.
The main question now is whether Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the MFP, will receive the necessary number of votes in the aforementioned election.
With the official results just announced, the eight-party coalition led by the Forward Party now holds 312 seats in the House of Representatives, meaning Pita needs the support of at least 64 more members of parliament to win. On June 20, the coalition announced it was making progress in securing the necessary support in the Senate.
Despite being officially confirmed as a member of parliament, Pita is currently facing an EC investigation into allegations of owning shares in a media company. However, he has so far maintained that the controversy will not hinder his efforts to become prime minister.
According to Bloomberg , another issue is that the MFP and the Pheu Thai Party (the two largest parties in the eight-party coalition) have yet to reach an agreement on who will assume the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. Chaitawat Tulathon, Secretary-General of the MFP, said this issue will be resolved before the next meeting of the coalition party leaders.
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