(Bangkok) The reformist Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of the legislative elections in Thailand, is counting on a second vote of Parliament, scheduled for Wednesday, to become prime minister, after an initial failure linked to the opposition of the generals, but other candidacies could upset the given.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, entangled in a cycle of political crises and giant protests for more than two decades, is going through a new period of tension, between the conservative elites in power and the younger generations eager for change.
Deputies and senators will meet again on Wednesday to appoint a prime minister, the vice-president of the National Assembly said on Friday, in an increasingly uncertain context.
The first attempt on Thursday confirmed the blockages around the progressive candidate Pita Limjaroenrat, who depends on the rallying of senators appointed by the army to gain power, despite the support of a majority pro-democracy coalition in the Lower House.
However, the majority of senators, self-proclaimed guardians of traditional values, criticize the young deputy (42 years old) for his project to reform the law on lèse-majesté, a sensitive subject in Thailand where the king enjoys a status of quasi-divinity.
In a system locked down by the military, the chances of Pita winning the second vote are slim, if he is allowed to run again, analysts say.
“We don’t even know yet if Pita will be able to be a candidate for a second time. It may depend on the coalition, or on the parliamentarians who do not want to repeat the procedure with a candidate who has already been rejected,” said Napon Jatusripitak, professor of political science.
A Pheu Thai application?
According to a scenario mentioned by analysts, the powerful Pheu Thai party could leave the pro-democracy coalition of eight parties dominated by Move Forward, to present a candidate from its ranks.
Second force in Parliament, the populist movement associated with the former prime minister in exile Thaksin Shinawatra is considered less divisive on the sensitive subject of the monarchy.
Two names emerge: Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, and businessman Srettha Thavisin.
“I think the outcome of the second vote will not be different from that of yesterday (Thursday). So Pheu Thai, Move Forward and others need to talk,” Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew told reporters.
A meeting with Move Forward is scheduled for the day, another Pheu Thai official said.
For his part, Pita assured Thursday that he would find the solution to rally the fifty senators (out of 250) he needs.
“Why would senators change their vote, with so much pressure from the regime against them? “Asks AFP political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak.
Telegenic, at ease in English, divorced, Pita embodies the renewal desired by the new generations, after almost a decade under the authority of the former putschist general Prayut Chan-O-Cha who saw fundamental freedoms recede and economic growth stagnate.
But his flagship project to reform the law on lèse-majesté, one of the most severe in the world of this type, has drawn a red line with the senators, who also point the finger at the legal troubles of the deputy.
Threat of suspension
Pita Limjaorenrat is being prosecuted in two separate cases, which leave the threat of disqualification hanging over his head like a sword of Damocles.
The president of the electoral commission recommended Wednesday, on the eve of the vote, a suspension of his parliamentary functions, because of shares which he had in a television channel at the time of the campaign, in opposition to the law.
The person concerned, who defends himself from any illegal maneuver, denounced a hasty procedure aimed at influencing the election scheduled for the next day against him.
In another case, the Constitutional Court declared admissible the complaint of a lawyer accusing Mr. Pita and Move Forward of wanting to “overthrow” the monarchy.
Thailand, which has experienced a dozen successful coups since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, is used to political crises fueled by military interventions or court decisions, sometimes enamelled with violence.
A collective of pro-democracy activists called for a protest at 6 p.m. Friday (7 a.m. Eastern Time) in the center of the capital Bangkok.