A motion submitted by 99 lawmakers on Tuesday to amend the constitution and stop the military-appointed senate from voting for the prime minister has fallen through after several defectors from the Democrat Party got cold feet and reversed course.
The opposition-led coalition of MPs announced on Wednesday at parliament that they will instead pressure the government to amend the constitution and called the military-drafted charter ‘undemocratic.’
The group that submitted the parliamentary motion on Tuesday was comprised of MPs from Move Forward Party (MFP), other opposition parties, and some from the ruling coalition including 16 MPs from the Democrat Party.
However, according to sources within the Democrat Party, several Democrat MPs withdrew from the motion forcing it to be withdrawn completely as it didn’t receive the 98 votes needed to bring the issue before parliament.
According to the sources, the Democrats who pulled out worried about putting their name down alongside Move Forward and were worried about angering Thailand’s conservative institutions.