The Election Commission (EC) has still not reached a decision on whether to seek a Constitutional Court ruling on the eligibility of prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat. It will meet again on Wednesday, one day before parliament is scheduled to vote for a new prime minister.
Thursday’s vote will begin at 5pm, following six hours of debate by MPs and senators, Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Tuesday.
EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said on Tuesday that the commission was continuing to review the report of its fact-finding committee that investigated Mr Pita’s eligibility for political office.
The commission had been widely expected to make a decision on Monday but they later said they needed more time. It has yet to speak with Mr Pita but Mr Ittiporn said it doesn’t have to.
He acknowledged that Mr Pita had written to the EC seeking to present his defence. However, Mr Ittiporn said the constitution allowed the EC to ask the Constitutional Court right away to rule on the status of any House representatives.
The MP status of Mr Pita, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party and prime ministerial candidate of the eight coalition allies, was called into question because of a small number of shares in iTV Plc, a broadcaster that went off the air in 2007 and was delisted from the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014. Strictly speaking, he did not even hold the shares — they belonged to the estate of his father who died in 2006. Mr Pita was the executor of the estate.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running in a general election.
The EC earlier dismissed the complaints about the iTV shares as they were filed too late. Its focus now is on whether Mr Pita violated another rule that bars someone who files to run for election while knowing that he might have broken an electoral law — in this case owning media shares.
Meanwhile, preparations continue for Thursday’s parliamentary sitting, with Mt Wan saying that MPs would be allocated four hours and senators two hours to debate prior to voting on Mr Pita’s candidacy, starting at 5pm.
The House speaker and parliament president also said he expected political supporters would abide by the rules while gathering near the parliament on Thursday.
He declined to comment on what would happen next if Mr Pita failed to receive a majority vote from the joint sitting of representatives and senators on Thursday. Further sittings are tentatively scheduled for July 19 and July 20, and it is not known if Mr Pita’s name would be put forward on one or both days.
Mr Pita’s eight coalition allies hold 312 out of 500 seats in the House. He needs at least 376 votes in favour from the House and the Senate to be installed as prime minister.
Representatives of the eight allies met on Tuesday. After the meeting Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew said participants asked how many senators Move Forward had persuaded to support Mr Pita.
Move Forward secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon declined to specify a number but promised that the party was trying its best, Dr Cholnan said.
The Pheu Thai leader refused to answer questions about other solutions that might be considered if Mr Pita cannot earn enough votes on Thursday.
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