Thailand’s parliament is scheduled to meet next week to pick a new prime minister as a coalition of pro-democracy parties seek to end a political impasse that has gripped the country since the May general election.
(Bloomberg) — Thailand’s parliament is scheduled to meet next week to pick a new prime minister as a coalition of pro-democracy parties seek to end a political impasse that has gripped the country since the May general election.
The next session of the National Assembly, which combines the newly-elected lower house and the military-appointed Senate, will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 4 in Bangkok, according to a meeting agenda published on Thursday. It is not yet clear what time the voting will start.
The planned vote will be the first after Pheu Thai Party, the second-largest group in the coalition, took the lead in forming the government. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the surprise election winner Move Forward party, was twice thwarted by conservative senators who objected to his reformist agendas.
READ: Thai Political Gridlock Grows as Pro-Democracy Bloc Wobbles
The vote may still be called off, depending on whether the Constitutional Court accepts a petition by the Office of the Ombudsman, house speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said earlier on Thursday. The petition asks the court to rule if lawmakers’ vote last week to reject Pita’s re-nomination was unconstitutional.
Pheu Thai is expected to name its choice of prime minister candidate early next week before the vote.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.