On the evening of December 11, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul formally submitted a royal request for His Majesty’s gracious approval of a royal decree to dissolve the House of Representatives, in order to hold a new general election for members of the House of Representatives.
It has been reported that the act of submitting a royal request for the decree to dissolve the House of Representatives took place after a majority of parliament members voted on the constitutional amendment under Section 256/28, which must be approved by no less than one-third of the existing Senators. Natthaphong Ruangpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party and opposition leader—as well as leader of the party supporting Anutin as Prime Minister—demanded that Anutin, as prime minister, dissolve the House.
Further reports revealed that Paradorn Prissananantakul, Member of Parliament for Ang Thong from the Bhumjaithai Party, clarified to People’s Party representatives that if a vote was cast to cut the Senators’ powers as the People’s Party wished in the third reading, the Senators would not approve the entire constitutional amendment draft. This would result in the complete failure of the constitutional amendment process as agreed with the People’s Party for the vote to support Anutin as prime minister. Therefore, he requested that the Senators’ powers be maintained so that the process could move forward. However, the People’s Party representatives refused and announced that if they were defeated in the vote on Section 256/28, they would immediately submit a motion of no-confidence against the entire cabinet. Consequently, Anutin had to decide to dissolve the House of Representatives, as his government, being a minority administration supported by the People’s Party, would have to end if the People’s Party withdrew its support.
In his Facebook post, Mr. Anutin stated, “I am returning the power to the people.”
