The Constitutional Court has rejected the petition seeking a review of a parliamentary decision that barred Pita Limjaroenrat from being renominated as PM, saying that the petitioners were not parties directly affected by the matter.

On 16 August 2023, the constitutional court declined to accept the Ombudsman’s petition on the PM nomination which was filed on 24 July 2023. The petition sought a ruling on parliament’s rejection the renomination of Pita, the PM candidate from the Move Forward Party (MFP), claiming that Section 41 of the Parliamentary Regulations, which was used to block Pita’s renomination, violates the rights and freedoms of the complainants.

The court stated that the petition was not lodged by the candidate who was proposed for PM. The petitioners were not individuals whose rights or freedoms are directly violated. Thus, they did not have the standing to lodge the petition according to Section 213 of the constitution.

The Court said its decision to reject further consideration of the case was unanimous.

Pita was initially nominated on 13 July 2023, but failed to secure enough support to become PM. On 19 July 2023, 395 of 715 members of both houses of parliament voted to reject Pita’s renomination, claiming that Section 41 of the Parliamentary Regulations prohibits the resubmission of a failed motion during the same session.

The complaints from the MPs and Thai people were submitted to the Ombudsman asking it to file a petition with the Constitutional Court to rule on the case.