The Constitutional Court scheduled a meeting on August 3 to deliberate on whether to accept or reject the petition from the Ombudsman regarding the re-nomination of the Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat as a prime minister.
The Constitutional Court’s judges will convene to decide whether to accept the petition to rule on whether the Parliament’s resolution rejecting the nomination of Pita violates the constitution or not.
Regarding the preliminary ruling of the Constitutional Court, there are three possible outcomes. The Court may reject the petition or may accept the petition but not issue an injunction to delay the next prime ministerial vote. The Court may accept the petition and issue an injunction to delay the prime ministerial vote temporarily.
The Ombudsman resolved that process of endorsing individuals for the position of prime minister was in line with the constitutional procedures, not a motion as stated in the parliament regulation No.41 which prohibits the submission of a repeat motion in the same session.
Therefore, the parliamentary vote to reject the re-nomination of Pita as a prime minister on July 19 was deemed unconstitutional, violating Articles 88, 159, and 172.
Prior to the Constitutional Court’s ruling, if the selection of a prime minister is allowed to proceed, it could lead to severe damage and be difficult to remedy. Hence, the Ombudsman also asked the court to postpone the prime minister vote. (TNA)
