By Thai Newsroom Reporters
MOVE FORWARD LEADER/PRIME minister-designate Pita Limjaroenrat said today (July 8) certain non-coalition MPs and some senators might probably pick him for head of government not because of him as an individual politician or anything about his progressive party as a whole but because they may only mean to observe the voters’ consensus.
Pita said those non-coalition MPs and senators who might probably vote for him to take the helm of government might as well resolve to pay an ultimate respect for the principles of democratic rule under which a consensus of a majority of voters in last May’s general election be seriously taken into account.
Pita said those lawmakers who might jump onto the bandwagon of a majority of MPs to pick him for prime minister during the upcoming Thursday’s joint House/Senate meeting would probably mean to put such democratic principles above unresolved concerns over himself as leader of the Move Forward or any of their political ideologies manifested during nationwide electoral campaigns.
That apparently refers in part to the draconian lese majeste law, better known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which the Move Forward has invariably vowed to amend in a sustained effort to bring the constitutional monarchy into a lasting, close harmony with the people, to cherish and uphold the monarchy above politics, to keep the monarchy from being abused and exploited by rogue politicians, to reduce the maximum 15-year jail term for convicts, to prompt the release of suspects under bail pending court rulings and to leave the Royal Household Bureau as the only legitimate party to file lese majeste lawsuits in lieu of anyone at all as had been the case over the last several years.
Whether or how the sought-after amendment to the lese majeste law may be fruitfully proceeded at parliament will entirely depend on all the MPs and senators and not on the Move Forward alone, Pita said.
“Those MPs and senators may not care about me or the Move Forward at all when they cast their votes for prime minister and they may only mean to follow the democratic principles under which the leader of the No.1 largest elected party be given the first chance to set up a government and run the country,” he said.
The prime minister-designate confirmed that he and his partisan colleagues have lobbied a number of senators for votes in his support whilst responding to doubts and concerns which they may have raised over the questionable campaign policies of his party.
The Move Forward leader who is needing at least 64 yea votes in addition to a combined force of 312 coalition MPs to make him the country’s 30th prime minister declined to forecast how many of the senators will eventually pick him for the top post of the executive branch.
However, he said no Plan B has been worked out for him as yet in case he may fail to get enough support from the MPs and senators in the first round of joint voting scheduled for Thursday.
CAPTION:
Top: Move Forward leader/prime minister-designate Pita Limjaroenrat at a rally in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) this evening to thank voters for their support. Photos: Thai Rath
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