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Thailand’s Pita claims he has ‘enough support’ from Senate to become PM
- To become PM, Pita Limjaroenrat has to muster a majority across both houses, including the Senate, whose 250 members were hand-picked by the last junta
- His eight-party coalition has 312 seats in the lower house, but needs another 64 – from either house – for a majority
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The front runner to become Thailand’s next prime minister, Pita Limjaroenrat, said on Tuesday he had secured enough support from the Senate to take the top job.
Pita’s progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats at last month’s election as voters delivered a crushing rejection of military-linked parties that have run the kingdom for nearly a decade.
To become PM, Pita has to muster a majority across both houses, including the Senate, whose 250 members were hand-picked by the last junta.
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His eight-party coalition has a total of 312 seats in the lower house, but needs another 64 – from either house – for a majority.
Asked on Tuesday how many senators would endorse him, Pita told reporters at the parliament building: “Enough to make me become PM.”
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Thailand’s parliament is set to sit next Monday for the first time since the election and a vote on the prime minister is due in mid-July.
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