BANGKOK: Thailand’s parliament will hold another vote for a prime minister next week which cannot include the leader of election winners Move Forward, a deputy speaker said on Thursday, after his re-nomination was blocked.
Parliament’s move to deny Pita Limjareonrat after a marathon debate on his eligibility on Wednesday triggered angry street protests, as a post-election crisis deepens two months after his party trounced military-backed rivals in an election.
“A candidate can only be nominated once in each parliamentary session,” Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan told Reuters on Thursday.
The US-educated Pita, 42, has faced tough resistance from conservative and royalist forces that clash with the party’s anti-establishment policies.
On Wednesday, parliament voted to block his second bid for the premiership and the Constitutional Court suspended him as lawmaker as it investigates a case against him over allegations that he violated election law for holding shares in a media company. Pita denies breaking election rules.
Legislative and judicial actions against him have drawn anger from his supporters.
“If we have elections and this is all we get, why don’t you just choose it yourself,” a protester said late on Wednesday drawing applause from a crowd gathered in central Bangkok wearing black.
A Twitter hashtag from the protest was used at least 2 million times.
Thailand’s main stock index has climbed about 2.6 percent since July 14, the day after Pita was first denied by parliament, while the baht has strengthened by 1.7 percent against the dollar.
Foreign investors bought 15.8 billion baht ($465.53 million)net of Thai shares and bonds during July 14-19.
Next week, it is widely expected that real estate tycoon and political newcomer Srettha Thavisin from the runner-up Pheu Thai party, part of Pita’s eight-party alliance, will be nominated for premier.
Activists are planning more gatherings and have asked people to wear black to protest what they see as rules stacked against the election winners.
The military-drafted constitution favors conservative parties, requiring any prime ministerial candidate to secure at least 375 votes from a joint sitting of the bicameral legislature including the junta-appointed 249-member senate and an elected 500-member lower house.
Protesters have called on the senators to resign and that Pita’s eight-party coalition to stick together and uphold election promises.
Thailand to hold another PM vote next week but Pita’s bid over — speaker
https://arab.news/bzq3c
Thailand to hold another PM vote next week but Pita’s bid over — speaker
- Pita Limjareonrat faced tough resistance from conservative and royalist forces
- On Wednesday, parliament voted to block his second bid for the premiership
‘Unofficial’ talks on plastic pollution treaty to begin in Japan
- “Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual,” Cordano warned after being elected
TOKYO: Delegates from around 20 countries will hold three days of “informal” talks in Japan from Sunday aimed at salvaging efforts toward a landmark global treaty on plastic pollution.
Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 toward an agreement failed, and a renewed effort in Geneva last August likewise collapsed in overtime.
A Japanese Environment Ministry official said that the “informal” closed-door meeting among “working-level officials” through Tuesday was not expected to result in any official announcement.
If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed.
Julio Cordano, Chile’s chief climate negotiator
“Japan is in a position of pushing for progress on the issue, and so is hosting the meeting,” the official told AFP without wishing to be named.
She added that “little progress” has been made since August, other than the election in early February of Chile’s chief climate negotiator Julio Cordano as chairman.
“Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual,” Cordano warned after being elected.
“If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed,” he said.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, with half for single-use items.
A large bloc of states wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while a smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management.
Countries expected to be present in Tokyo include big oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States as well as islands states Antigua and Barbuda and Palau, plus China, India and the European Union.
The UN’s environment chief told AFP in an interview in October that a global treaty remains “totally doable.”
“No one has walked away and said, ‘this is just too hopeless, we’re giving up’,” United Nations Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen said.
