The Constitutional Court will consider next Thursday whether it will accept for deliberation a petition regarding the renomination of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister, a source said.

The Ombudsman early this week asked the court to rule on Mr Pita's renomination rejection and to order parliament to postpone the next prime ministerial vote.

According to the Ombudsman, several complaints from both the public and members of parliament were lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman after the joint sitting of MPs and senators rejected Mr Pita's renomination last week.

They claimed the rejection contravened the charter, and the Ombudsman decided to seek a judicial review and ask the court to postpone the prime ministerial vote to prevent any damage that would be difficult to fix.

However, another vote originally scheduled to take place today was postponed by parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha pending the court's ruling.

Mr Wan said on Wednesday his decision to postpone the vote had nothing to do with Pheu Thai's attempt to secure support in parliament for one of its three prime ministerial candidates.

He said selecting the prime minister should wait because the Ombudsman was seeking the judicial review, and he would call a new joint session if the Constitutional Court rejected the petition for deliberation.

"It is speculated the court may decide whether to pass a ruling on the petition on Aug 9. If the court throws out the petition, I can schedule a meeting [to elect a prime minister] immediately," Mr Wan said.

"But parliament must be informed three days in advance," he said.

Mr Wan voiced disagreement with some MFP MPs who planned to ask parliament to review its resolution on Mr Pita's renomination, saying the issue should wait for the court's decision.

Democrat Party list-MP Chuan Leekpai said on Wednesday the prime ministerial selection is likely to be completed well before the five-year term of the military-appointed senators expires.

He was responding to a question about a call from some minor parties in the MFP-led alliance that it should wait for the Senate's term to end next May, so the prime ministerial candidate could be elected by the House of Representatives alone.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by POST REPORTERS

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