The secretary-general of the House of Representatives issued an urgent notification yesterday (Thursday), calling for MPs to attend the first meeting of the Lower House at 9.30am on July 4th, to take the oath and to choose the House speaker and the two deputies.
The notification was issued after it became clear that the Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties had reached a compromise in their disagreement over the House speakership.
According to a well-informed Pheu Thai source, the party decided to concede the House speakership to Move Forward, but will take the two deputy speaker posts, on the condition that the eight coalition parties remain united to support Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become the next prime minister. If Pita fails to receive enough votes in a joint sitting of the House and Senate, the Pheu Thai party will take the lead in forming a government, with the support of the Move Forward party.
The source said that, while some Pheu Thai MPs feel that this arrangement is not ideal, they find it acceptable after the reasons have been explained.
The two parties also agreed that no MP from either party will comment on this issue to the media, because it may impact the meeting of the eight party leaders, scheduled for this Sunday.
The Move Forward party is expected to nominate Padipat Suntiphada, a constituency MP for Phitsanuloke, as the House speaker. He beat the former Democrat party MP, Dr. Warong Dechgitvigrom, in both the 2019 and 2023 general elections.
