Whips delay decision on PM voting day pending Constitutional Court's reply
Coalition and opposition whips delay PM voting day decision, awaiting Constitutional Court's reply on judge's validity.
Whips defer decision on prime minister election date
The coalition and opposition whips have delayed their decision on the date for the House meeting to elect the next prime minister, pending a reply from the Constitutional Court regarding the validity of a judge’s office.
Urgent question about Constitutional Court judge validity
Deputy House Speaker Chalad Khamchuang convened a meeting with coalition and opposition whips on Wednesday morning to discuss the PM election date. However, the decision was postponed until the afternoon, as they awaited a response from the Constitutional Court.
Chalad and the whips expected the Court to promptly address a question raised by 20 Pheu Thai MPs concerning the validity of one of the constitutional court judges. They planned to reconvene at 3 pm on Wednesday to decide on the PM election date, depending on the Court's response.
Pheu Thai MPs question the validity of the court ruling
On Tuesday evening, a group of Pheu Thai MPs, led by Wisut Chai-aroon, asked House Speaker and Parliament President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha to request the Constitutional Court to review the validity of its ruling. The MPs argued that one of the nine judges’ terms had expired before the ruling date.
Wan Noor promptly forwarded the request to the Court. Chalad said that he expected a quick reply from the Court as the issue was considered urgent.
Constitutional Court ruling questioned over judge’s expired term
The Constitutional Court voted 6-3 to remove Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the prime minister. However, the Pheu Thai MPs argued that the ruling should be invalid due to the expired tenure of one judge, Panya Utchachon, whose term ended before the ruling date.
The MPs pointed out that on August 29, His Majesty the King issued a royal command to appoint Sarawut Songwilai as a new constitutional court judge to replace Panya. Despite this, Panya attended the court meeting on August 29 and participated in the voting process.
Paetongtarn's legal team also challenges the ruling
In addition to the Pheu Thai MPs, Paetongtarn’s legal team submitted a similar petition to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday evening, requesting the Court to revoke its ruling against her due to Panya's participation in the decision-making process after his term had expired.
Both the Pheu Thai MPs and Paetongtarn’s lawyers referenced a previous case where the Constitutional Court reconsidered a case after two new judges were appointed, Nakarin Mektrairat and Sumet Roikulcharoen, in March 2024.
Next steps after Constitutional Court’s response
Once the Constitutional Court responds, Chalad said the whips would reconvene to decide the date for the PM election by Wednesday. However, if no response is received from the Court, a new meeting may be scheduled for Saturday or next week.
If the Court replies and the whips make a decision before 4 pm, the House Speaker may schedule the PM voting for September 5, Chalad added.
No royal decree enacted for House dissolution yet
On the possibility of House dissolution, Chalad stated that no royal decree had been enacted as of yet, and the House would have to wait for a formal announcement before proceeding with any dissolution.
