Lower House choosing PM best option, says EC
THE ELECTION Commissioner yesterday suggested the Lower House selecting the prime minister from political parties’ lists of PM candidates was the best chance to avoid Parliament’s dissolution and the high cost of a staging a re-election.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn spoke in response to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam’s remark that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha could resort to his sweeping powers under Article 44 of the post-coup interim charter to dissolve the next Parliament if the House could not reach an agreement on the next premier.
Under the new charter, the Lower House is allowed to select the PM from the party lists. But if it fails to do so, the appointed Senate would join the Lower House in choosing the PM.
However, Wissanu told reporters on Friday that if the House could not select the PM, a House dissolution could be an option.
But Somchai said: “Dissolving Parliament would lead to rearranging a new election which costs over Bt3 billion each time. And I have no idea if we would get the next premier after the re-election.”
He said the dissolution could be done legally, but the cost incurred in doing that must be taken into consideration by all sides.
Wissanu yesterday denied he had said Prayut could dissolve Parliament, claiming he had been misinterpreted by the media.
He believes the next election will be successful and dignified without a political deadlock.
Wissanu said he had not suggested the PM could exercise Article 44 to dissolve Parliament, as it could not be used that way.
“What he really meant was that if the House failed many times to select the PM, it must ultimately turn to people, which would mean the dissolution of the House,” the Deputy PM said.
He said that could be done via a royal decree, not Article 44. The government, he added, did not need Article 44 to stay in power as it could stay on if the House failed to select the PM and set up the new government.
Wissanu said his remark was in response to journalists repeatedly asking him what could be done if the House could not agree on the PM for months. “Do not assume [that there would be a deadlock] and blame [the junta] for using Article 44 to dissolve Parliament,” he said.
Wissanu also remarked that if the re-election were necessary, it had to be done regardless of the
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