Members of parliament will be able to nominate candidates for prime minister while members of the senate will only be allowed to vote, under circumstances where both houses fail to select a premier.
Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairperson, Meechai Ruchupan, reiterated the CDC’s stance on its revision of the draft charter on Saturday, saying the drafting team had decided to ‘not allow’ members of the upper house to propose names for premiership, adding that only members of parliament will have the power to nominate prime minister candidates. However, senators will be allowed in the voting process.
If the parliament fails to select a prime minister among names proposed by political parties, at least two thirds of members of both houses must support the move for members of the lower house to propose new candidates. Once new names have been submitted to the speaker, senators and MPs will cast ballots to elect a prime minister.
The chairperson went on to say that a non-MP prime minister can only be in office for a five-year term.
