PM Vote Today, Increasing Risk Government Formation Delayed

Today the second vote on PM candidate Pita will take place with experts expecting him to fail again due to a disagreement on whether he is eligible to stand another time and the legal cases against him. In this case Pheu Thai’s Srettha will stand (second largest party) but it is still unclear if he will be able to gain enough support from the military-appointed senate given Move Forward would be in the coalition. This would delay the formation of a new government further and increases the possibility of a coalition without Move Forward.

• Parliament has begun its session but will debate whether a PM candidate can stand a second time before the PM vote. House Speaker Wan will decide after the debate if Pita can stand again. Despite the political uncertainty USDTHB is down 0.4% today to 34.09 after closing Tuesday at 34.22.
• The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct said it would consider a case against the Election Commission (EC) for unfairly treating Move Forward leader Pita and decide whether to hear the case on August 9.
• The Constitutional Court will decide today whether to hear the EC’s case against Pita. The US State Department said that it is concerned about the post-election court cases and that the will of the people should be respected, according to the Bangkok Post.
• On Tuesday, Move Forward presented bills to the House of Reps to reduce the influence of the military and improve competitiveness in the economy.