BANGKOK: After weeks of disagreement on the Speaker’s post in Thailand’s newly elected House of Representatives, veteran Muslim politician Wan Muhammad Noor Matha was announced as the new speaker.
The 79-year-old Prachachat Party leader was the only nominee for the position in parliament on Tuesday, hence no vote was necessary to endorse the politician.
Wan Muhammad Noor had previously served as speaker of the House of Representatives, and ex-officio president of the Parliament between 1996 and 2000.
He also had served as the Minister of Interior, Transport, Agriculture, and Cooperatives under Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration.
He was nominated by prime ministerial candidate frontrunner Pita Limjareonrat who led the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) that pulled a stunning victory in Thailand’s May 14 general election.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn had opened the new session of 500-member House of Representatives on Monday which will elect the country’s new prime minister and form the new government.
Wan Muhammad’s uncontested appointment also indicated the end of a public squabble between MFP and Pheu Thai over the speaker’s post. It appears that a consensus was reached on late Monday with MFP settling for the first deputy House speaker position while Pheu Thai the second deputy.
In a joint statement, MFP and Pheu Thai said the consensus is for unity among the coalition parties in forming a government and nominate Pita as the prime minister.
After winning 151 seats in the May 14 general election and garnering more than 14.2 million votes, MFP and seven other parties cobbled together a coalition with 312 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives.
Despite the favourable number, there is no guarantee that the MFP-led coalition will be able to form a government as they need to secure another 64 votes from the 250 senators.
However, many senators have stated their unwillingness to vote for Pita due to MFP’s anti-establishment agenda, which involves the proposed amendment of the lese majeste laws also known as Article 112 of the criminal code, regarding the offense of insulting the monarch.
Given the senators’ history of aligning with army-backed parties, there is a possibility that Pita may not garner enough support.
Pita also faces an investigation for breaching election rules.-Bernama
