By Thai Newsroom Reporters
AN ESTIMATED 396 out of a total 400 designate-MPs recently voted in constituency-based mode of the general election are anticipated to be initially verified by the Election Commission tomorrow (Feb.25).
The 396 designate-MPs elected in constituency-based mode who will be initially verified by the polling agency tomorrow will be added up by 100 others elected in party-listed mode and expected to be verified early next month to account for more than 95% of a total 500 elected lawmakers legally required for an inauguration of the House of Representatives following the Feb.8 election.
Then the polling agency will wrap up a final verification of no less than 95% of the total lawmakers either elected in constituency-based mode or party-listed mode in a two-week time so that they may promptly convene at parliament sooner than later.
During the first House meeting, a House speaker and a couple of deputy House speakers will be picked from among all attending legislators followed by the naming of head of the executive branch the schedule for which will be set by the House speaker who will almost certainly be attached to the Bhumjaithai, currently core of the caretaker government who had emerged as the largest elected party in the nationwide race to parliament.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will very likely prolong his rule as head of the Bhumjaithai-led coalition government with 299 designate-MPs on their side, consisting of the Pheu Thai, plus over a dozen splinter parties most of whom had grabbed only one MP seat or a few each.
Meanwhile, the Democrats led by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva could possibly be brought in a potential Bhumjaithai-led government now that the Klatham under de facto party boss Thammanat Prompao is being apparently kept out of the coalition bandwagon surreptitiously steered by de facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob, according to partisan sources.
The possibility of the Democrats jumping onto the Bhumjaithai-led government cannot be ultimately ruled out at the moment though Abhisit invariably remained tightlipped and non-committal over it after he had resolutely vowed to never have his Old School conservative party get on the same boat with Thammanat’s ultra-conservative camp which the de facto Bhumjaithai boss had quietly manipulated to keep at bay. But whether the Democrats might eventually become a coalition partner would almost certainly depend on Newin to decide once and for all, the partisan sources said.
Given the possibility of the Democrats being added to the current coalition, the Bhumjaithai-led government would secure a supportive army of 321 designate-MPs, mostly attached to splinter parties with only one designate-MP or a few each, thus being more than adequate and ample to wrestle with the People’s-led opposition bloc with only 179 designate-MPs, they said.
In the nationwide election held earlier this month, Newin’s camp emerged as the largest elected party grabbing 193 MP seats whilst the reformist People’s won 118 MP seats and the neo-conservative Pheu Thai under de facto party boss/inmate Thaksin Shinawatra came out as the third largest elected camp with 74 MP seats, among others. Without the 22 designated-Democrat MPs, the Bhumjaithai-led coalition government would already secure solid support from a total of 299 out of a total 500 elected lawmakers, however.
However, the ratio between the number of cabinet members and the total of supportive legislators which each coalition partner has would be consequently widened from 1:9 to 1:10 due to the possible alignment of the Democrats into the Bhumjaithai bandwagon whilst three or four of the newly-named ministers have been practically reserved for “non-politician technocrats” under the Bhumjaithai quota. For that reason, a couple of Democrats could possibly be named members of the Bhumjaithai-led cabinet under Anutin’s elected premiership.
Those “non-politician” ministers who are currently part of the caretaker Bhumjaithai-led government include Deputy Prime Minister Bowornsak Uwanno who might probably continue in the same position taking charge of the government’s legal affairs, Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapat, Foreign Minister Sihasak Puangketkaeo and Commerce Minister Supajee Suthumpun who will likely be named a deputy prime minister supervising the agriculture & cooperatives portfolio in concurrent fashion.
Though the Democrats would not emerge as much of a bargaining chip for Newin’s camp to tacitly tussle with the Pheu Thai as the second largest coalition partner, the possibility of the Democrats becoming part of the Bhumjaithai-led government could automatically lessen the legislative power of the People’s-led opposition bloc whilst the probability of Newin’s and Thaksin’s camps mutually struggling for preferable portfolios of cabinet cannot be ultimately ruled out either for the time being or beyond, they said.
CAPTIONS:
Top – Representative image of a general election in Thailand. Photo – PRD
Insert – De facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob. Photo – Thai Rath
Front Page – The Election Commission logo. Photo – PRD
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