BREAKINGBREAKING,
Thailand’s bicameral parliament starts vote to endorse Pita Limjaroenrat of Move Forward party as the next PM.
Thai parliamentarians have begun voting for a new prime minister, according to parliament TV.
Frontrunner Pita Limjaroenrat is the sole candidate but he faces a tough battle with his eight-party coalition short of the absolute majority in both houses required to propel him to the premiership.
To become prime minister, the 42-year-old leader needs 375 votes, or more than half of the 749 members of the lower house and upper houses.
There were 676 legislators in attendance for the vote on Thursday, reports said.
Many legislators are opposed to Limjaroenrat’s Move Forward party’s anti-establishment agenda, including a controversial plan to amend a law that prohibits insults of the monarchy.
The progressive party and its alliance partner, Pheu Thai, thrashed conservative pro-military parties in the May 14 election, seen widely as a resounding rejection of nearly a decade of government led or backed by the royalist military.
But Pita’s determination to pursue Move Forward’s agenda puts him at odds with a powerful nexus of conservatives and old-money families that have loomed large over Thai politics for decades, and will be almost certain to try to thwart him on Thursday.
His alliance controls 312 seats, but to get the required 375 votes, he needs support from some of the 249 members of the conservative-leaning upper house Senate, which was appointed by the military after a 2014 coup.
“I will do my best to match the hope and encouragement from the people,” Pita told reporters as he arrived at parliament.
“I will use this opportunity to find a consensus.”
Sumber: www.aljazeera.com
