Thailand’s military-appointed Senate could steal election result, Pheu Thai Party leader warns

In a Facebook post, Sudarat Keyuraphan says the election rules were written so that junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha ‘will become the next prime minister’

Prayuth’s lieutenant Prawit Wongsuwan has sparked anger by saying the Senate, which has a large say in picking the country’s premier, is ‘controllable’

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Pheu Thai Party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan says the junta’s rules should not “thwart the will of the people”. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00am, 21 Mar 2019Updated: 12:54pm, 21 Mar 2019

The leader of Thailand’s biggest political party has warned that the unelected Senate could steal the general election result by handing the prime ministership to junta chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha – even if his political proxies are trounced at the ballot box on Sunday.

The comments on Wednesday by the Pheu Thai Party’s Sudarat Keyuraphan echo growing rancour among the junta’s top opponents in recent days, after Prayuth’s top lieutenant Prawit Wongsuwan – overseeing the appointment of the 250 senators – said his boss was likely to form the next government as the upper house would be “controllable”.

That would in effect mean the bruising electoral contest for 500 parliament seats between Pheu Thai and other pro-democratic parties on one hand and the pro-military Palang Pracharat Party on the other would virtually amount to nothing.

Palang Pracharat could get by with a mere 126 parliament seats, as with the support of the 250 senators it would have the simple majority in both houses to meet its objective – keeping Prayuth in his current job. After the election, a joint session of the 500-seat parliament and the 250-seat, military-appointed Senate must pick a prime minister.

The Senate would also have powers to dismiss a government, and has significant other remits even though none of its members are elected. These provisions were written into a 2017 constitution crafted by the junta and endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

“These rules were written so that General Prayuth will become the next prime minister,” Sudarat said. Her party, linked to the powerful, rural-backed Shinawatra family, was ousted from government in the 2014 coup staged by Prayuth.

Pheu Thai won the 2011 and 2014 polls, while its earlier iterations won the 2001, 2006, and 2008 elections in the kingdom, roiled by a decades-old stand-off between the Shinawatras and the urban establishment.