Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling to dismiss Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the House of Representatives has scheduled a vote for a new Prime Minister this Friday (16 August)

In an immediate letter from the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, MPs are informed that the House Speaker has cancelled the original agenda of this Friday’s meeting and instead scheduled a vote for a new Prime Minister.

Srettha was dismissed yesterday (14 August) after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated ethical standards by appointing to the Cabinet lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who was jailed for contempt of court in 2008 and had his law license suspended for 5 years after he allegedly attempted to bribe Supreme Court officials while he was representing former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife Potjaman Na Pombejra in the Ratchadaphisek land case.

According to the Constitution, Article 160 stipulates that a minister must not have behaviour that is a serious violation of ethical standards, and not have been sentenced to imprisonment. Article 170 stipulates that ministerial positions will be terminated upon being disqualified or prohibited under Article 160.

The House will now select a new Prime Minister from the list of candidates nominated ahead of last year’s general election. Parties must have at least 25 MPs in parliament in order to renominate their PM candidates.

Matichon Online reported last night that, following a meeting of government coalition party leaders at the Shinawatra family residence Ban Chan Song La, the Pheu Thai Party has decided to nominate former Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri as their candidate for prime minister. However, Matichon Online reported again follow this morning Pheu Thai Party meeting that most MPs wanted to nominate Paetongtarn Shinawatra, party leader and youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The MPs raised concerns about Chaikasem’s health, and said that they wanted Paetongtarn as Prime Minister because she appeared most often during the party’s election campaign tour.

The Bhumjaithai Party, the United Thai Nation Party, and the Phalang Pracharat Party, which formed the government coalition with Pheu Thai, have announced that they are willing to back a candidate nominated by Pheu Thai, but will not back anyone who support an amendment to the royal defamation law. 

Meanwhile, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People's Party, which succeeded the now-dissolved Move Forward Party as the largest opposition party, said that the party will stay an opposition party and will not participate in the vote for a new Prime Minister. He said that the Move Forward Party had already made clear when Srettha was nominated that it does not believe that a government made of opposite ideologies would be effective in implementing useful policies. However, Natthaphong said that the party is willing to work with the government to amend the Constitution and related laws to limit the power of independent organizations and ensure that the criteria for dissolving political parties is in line with international standards.

Update:

The Pheu Thai Party's executive board has decided that they will nominate Paetongtarn as candidate for Prime Minister. In a press conference at 17.00 today (15 August), the government coalition parties also announced that they will back Paetongtarn's nomination.