Thailand is about to have a new government?

The House of Representatives and the Senate are expected to meet on July 13 to vote for a new prime minister . The new cabinet is expected to be appointed on July 21 and the swearing-in ceremony could take place at the end of the month, according to Wissanu Krea-ngam.

However, a source told the Bangkok Post that the above times are general time frames prescribed 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 the House of Representatives in the recent general election. According to the election results, the March Forward Party (MFP) led with 151 seats, followed by the Pheu Thai Party (141 seats), the Thai Pride Party (71 seats), the People's State Power Party (40 seats), and the United Thai National Party (36 seats).

Mr. 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 be convened within the next 15 days, or no later than July 4. After that, the 500 newly elected members of the House of Representatives and 250 appointed senators will conduct a joint parliamentary vote to select the prime minister.

What is of great concern now is whether Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of MFP, will receive the necessary number of votes in the above-mentioned vote.

With the official results just announced, the eight-party coalition led by the Progressive Party now holds 312 seats in the lower house, so Mr. Pita needs the support of at least 64 more members of parliament to win. On June 20, the coalition said it was making progress in gaining the necessary support in the Senate.

Despite being formally confirmed as an MP, Mr Pita is currently facing an EC investigation into his alleged ownership of shares in a media company. However, he has so far insisted that the controversy will not hinder his bid 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 take over as House Speaker. Mr. Chaitawat Tulathon, Secretary General of the MFP, said this issue will be resolved before the next meeting of the coalition's party leaders.

Source