Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul on Friday (Aug 29) began lobbying other parties to back the proposal made by the People’s Party, the winner of the 2023 election, to break the political deadlock following the removal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra from the premiership by the Constitutional Court, reports the Bangkok Post.
Mr Anutin told a press conference at party headquarters on Friday night that his group of potential coalition parties already had enough MPs, in addition to those from the People’s Party, to form the next government. He said he was ready to be the next prime minister.
The People’s Party said it would support the formation of a new government on condition that it dissolve the House by the end of this year and hold a referendum on the drafting of a new constitution.
“The People’s Party affirms its role as the opposition, fully scrutinising the new government, and no person from the People’s Party will join the cabinet as a minister,” it said.
The Bhumjaithai Party subsequently announced that its executive board and MPs had resolved to accept the proposal.
The next prime minister, expected to be chosen within a few days, needs the support of half the MPs in the House, or 247 out of 492 at present. Mr Anutin’s name will be put forward as the candidate of the Bhumjaithai-led alliance.
Bhumjaithai has 69 MPs and the People’s Party 143, for a total of 212. They only need to find another 35 votes, which could give them an edge over the Pheu Thai Party, which is attempting to retain power. Pheu Thai claims the existing coalition is still united but there are some wild cards, such as the 25-member Klatham Party.
Bhumjaithai said that the People’s Party, with the highest number of MPs in the 2023 election, had legitimacy to form a government but was unable to nominate any of its members to be the next prime minister.
The People’s Party is the reincarnation of the disbanded Move Forward Party which had only one prime ministerial candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, but he has been barred from political activity because of the party’s efforts to change the lese-majeste law.
The statement from the People’s Party said it believes that the country needs “a stable government with political legitimacy and capable of forming an administrative team based on knowledge and ability, not from political bargaining for benefits.
“However, due to the conditions specified in the Constitution, a government with such qualifications cannot arise from the current composition of the House of Representatives.”
Bhumjaithai said it had talked with some other political parties and a “certain number” of representatives and they agreed to accept the People’s Party’s proposal.
The goal, it said in a statement, is “to form a government to solve the immediate problems of the nation and people”.
“Then the House of Representatives will be dissolved. A general election will be organised to let people resume their power to make a political decision within the timeframe that the People’s Party proposed,” Bhumjaithai said.
The new government will have three main tasks – to solve security issues related to Thai-Cambodian conflict, to hold a public referendum on having a constitution-drafting assembly rewrite the constitution, and to dissolve the House in four months after the new government announces its policy platform to the parliament, Bhumjaithai said.
Bhumjaithai quit the Paetongtarn government led by her Pheu Thai Party in June amid tension between both parties over land ownership issues involving key party figures, the fight for the interior minister’s portfolio, and differing views on casino and cannabis legalisation.