Thai Parliament Rejects Bid to Strip Senate of Powers to Pick PM
- The civil society proposal fails to garner enough votes
- Previous attempts to clip powers rejected by military allies
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Thailand’s parliament rejected an opposition-backed bid to strip the junta-appointed Senate of powers to elect the next prime minister before the national vote likely to be held early next year.
A key proposal to amend the 2017 military-backed constitution received 356 votes in support, falling short of the 364 needed -- the half way mark of the combined strength of the joint session of the parliament on Wednesday. The proposal had sought to remove a provision that gives the Senate the power to select the prime minister together with the lower house for the first five years following post-coup elections in 2019.