Thai parliament to vote for prime minister on Jul 13: House Speaker

THAILAND’S parliament will vote for a new prime minister on Jul 13, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Wednesday (Jul 5).

The announcement comes a day after he was endorsed as House Speaker, a role in which he is able to call for a joint sitting of the country’s bicameral legislature to vote on the next prime minister.

The election-winning Move Forward party and populist Pheu Thai trounced conservative rivals in a May ballot, securing 151 and 141 seats in the 500-member Lower House, respectively.

Together with six other parties, they are expected to propose Move Forward leader, the US-educated Pita Limjaroenrat as the next premier to replace the incumbent Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

However, with 312 votes the alliance is short of the 376 votes that Pita needs in the joint sitting, which includes a conservative-leaning 250-member senate, who were appointed during military rule. REUTERS