About 700 people using 500 cars and motorcycles joined a rally in central Bangkok on Sunday afternoon to demand the resignation of the senators who did not vote for prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat of the election-winning Move Forward Party on Thursday last week.
The demonstrators first gathered at Democracy Monument and then moved to the headquarters of the navy, the army and the police.
The chiefs of the armed forces and the police as well as the chief of the defence forces and the permanent secretary for defence, all senators, were absent from the joint sitting of the House and the Senate last Thursday when parliamentarians held their vote on Mr Pita, the then sole prime ministerial candidate and leader of the Move Forward Party.
Leading the demonstration, activist Arnon Nampa said that if those senators resigned, the threshold majority vote from the House and Senate would be sufficient for Mr Pita to become prime minister.
"It (the resignation) would reduce the votes of senators and the number of (majority) votes needed to elect the pro-democracy parties to be lower than 376," Mr Arnon said.
The military-drafted constitution allows 250 unelected senators to join the vote on prime minister together with 500 elected House representatives.
Mr Arnon called on senators to vote for Mr Pita in the next round of the prime ministerial vote. He said Mr Pita was the prime ministerial candidate of the eight political allies which had a majority in the House, 312 out of 500 votes.
"We ask the senators who will join the next vote to respect the people's choice by voting in favour of the eight coalition parties," he said.
On Thursday last week just 13 of 249 senators voted in favour of Mr Pita.
Mr Arnon said that demonstrators gave their moral support to the 312 House representatives and the 13 senators who voted for Mr Pita last week.
Regarding the car rally on Sunday, the activist said he hoped the activity would encourage people nationwide to come out and show their support in accordance with their choice in the May 14 general election.
"I would like people to get up and fight for a national administration by a pro-democracy government," Mr Arnon said.
"The most politically legitimate person (as the new prime minister) is Mr Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party which won the election," he said.
He urged the eight coalition parties to remain united. If the Move Forward Party or the Pheu Thai Party joins forces with any political party from the caretaker government, people will curse them, Mr Arnon said.
MFP and Pheu Thai are the two main parties in the eight coalition alliance.
After visiting the headquarters of the army, the navy and the police, the car rally was set to reach its destination at the front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in Pathumwan area.
