By Thai Newsroom Reporters
HOUSE SPEAKER WAN Muhamad Noor Matha is being quietly pressed by the Pheu Thai to leave the top post of the legislative branch and be replaced with a Pheu Thai MP, a partisan source said today (Sep.20).
Wan Noor, a Prachachart MP, has been merely viewed by the rank and file of the Pheu Thai under de facto party boss Thaksin Shinawatra as a “stop-gap” who was unexpectedly named House speaker at the height of last month’s tug-of-war between the Pheu Thai and Move Forward over the top legislative post, the partisan source said.
Since the Pheu Thai already managed to become core of the current coalition government without the Move Forward, it is about time the House Speaker seat was returned to the largest coalition partner, according to the source who only spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pheu Thai MP Suchart Tancharoen who had earlier performed as a deputy House speaker in a previous House of Representatives would almost certainly be named House speaker in lieu of Wan Noor who has recently said he will not step down under mounting pressure and that he is yet strong and healthy, albeit at the age of 79.
“The House Speaker seat is traditionally supposed to be occupied by the largest coalition partner and not such a splinter one to which the current House speaker belongs,” the partisan source quoted a prominent Pheu Thai executive as saying, referring to the Prachachart with nine MPs.
Meanwhile, the Bhumjaithai, the second largest coalition partner under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, is also looking to grab a deputy House speaker seat no matter if Wan Noor will eventually resign as House speaker or whether Move Forward MP Padipat Santipada might step down as a deputy House speaker in foreseeable future. The other deputy House speaker post is currently held by Pheu Thai MP Pichet Chuamuangpan.
Nevertheless, Padipat is more or less speculated to be “technically ousted” from the Move Forward so he could hop over to another opposition party and keep the deputy House speaker seat to himself whilst giving way for the naming of a new party leader speculated to be Move Forward MP Chaithawat Tulathon as opposition leader in concurrent fashion.
The military-designed constitution prohibits an opposition leader from being attached to any party which may currently assume cabinet seats or the House Speaker seat or Deputy House Speaker seats.
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House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Matichon
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