BANGKOK, June 19 — Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) has today certified the results of the May 14 General Election, paving the way for the new term of Parliament to convene within 15 days and the forming of a new government in the next few weeks.
All the 500 seats of the House of Representatives — 400 constituency seats and 100 party-list seats which are allocated on a proportional representation basis, were endorsed.
The secretary-general of EC Sawaeng Boonmee said while the Commission has certified the results of all seats, it will, however, continue to investigate electoral fraud within a one-year period.
After the ratification of all 500 Members of Parliament today, Parliament must convene within 15 days to elect a new House Speaker and deputies.
The House Speaker will then set a date for a joint session of the 500 elected House of Representatives and the 250 senate members to vote on a new prime minister.
Local media has reported that the new Parliament session is expected to convene on July 3.
On the complaints against 71 MPs in 37 constituencies that allegedly violated election rules, Sawaeng said the EC was unable to complete the investigations within the 60-day limit of the polling.
Therefore, he said the commission decided to certify the results of all seats first.
On the investigation into Move Forward Party’s leader and prime minister candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, Sawaeng said the investigation has not yet been concluded.
Pita is being investigated to determine whether he was qualified to run in the General Election last month due to his ownership of shares in iTV Plc, a broadcaster that ceased operation in 2017, which is prohibited under Thailand’s election law.
The youth-driven Move Forward Party led by Pita had claimed more than 14.2 million votes and scooped up 151 of 500 seats in the House of Representatives in last month’s election.
An eight-party coalition, led by Move Forward Party, has been formed and holds 313 of the 500 seats in the House.
However, there is no guarantee that Pita’s coalition will be successful in forming a government, as it needs to secure support from at least 63 members of the Senate who were appointed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha's military government after the 2014 coup, to make it 376 votes in total.
It is worth noting that the senators have a history of aligning themselves with army-backed parties.
— Bernama
