Democrats unlikely to vote for Pita to be PM, preparing for an opposition role

Ramet said that all 25 Democrat MPs elected on May 14 would likely vote in line with a party resolution made by the new executive board.

The Democrats are scheduled to elect their new executive board this Sunday.

Democrat leader Jurin Laksanawisit stepped down to take responsibility for the party’s disappointing performance at the May 14 general election. The Democrats won fewer than half the 53 seats they won in the March 2019 election.

Ramet said on Friday that after it is elected on Sunday, the party’s new executive board will discuss with its 25 MPs how to vote for the next PM.

A joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate is scheduled for next Thursday to vote on selecting Thailand’s next prime minister, its 30th.

The Democrat spokesman said that the decision on how to vote would reflect the party’s standpoint as to whether it would join a new government.

“Democrat MPs will not be allowed to vote freely. They have to follow the party’s resolution, which will be made before the vote on the new prime minister,” Ramet said

The party is prepared to be part of the next opposition, he said, adding that the party has been in both government and opposition.

“We can do it all. The meeting will set the political direction that the party will take,” he said, referring to the upcoming discussion between the new executive board and MPs.
 

Asked to comment on speculation of a minority government, Ramet said that possibility was slim as a coalition government needs to have a majority in the House in order to ensure its stability.

“It will be difficult to push your policies through the House if you don’t have a majority,” he said.

The spokesman was asked to comment on the possibility of the Democrats voting in support of the 312-MP eight-party coalition that controls a majority of seats in the Lower House.

It is not democratic to force all political parties to follow the majority, he said.

“Some people say parties that disagree with the majority mean they fail to listen to the people’s voice. It rather means you don’t understand democracy,” Ramet said.

“In parliamentary politics, there are both sides – government and opposition. If all parties agree on everything, they’d better join hands to become a government together and share the ministerial seats. A true democracy has an opposing voice, and the minority must be heeded,” the Democrat spokesman said.

He said the Democrat Party opposes proposals to amend or abolish Article 112 of the Penal Code, also known as the lese majeste law.

The law must be kept intact in order to protect the head of state, he said.

Ramet said that as the Move Forward Party – which is leading the eight-party coalition aiming to form the next government – is pushing for amendments to the law, he was convinced that political parties with MPs in the House would take this issue into account when deciding whether to vote for Move Forward’s prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat.