Eight coalition allies on Monday evening agreed to renominate Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat as the prime minister on Wednesday – but if he fails again, the Pheu Thai Party will have the next chance.
Mr Pita, leader and prime ministerial candidate of the election-winning party, said the eight parties would nominate him as prime minister for the second round of voting on Wednesday.
"If votes in favour do not rise significantly, we will retreat. Pheu Thai will take its turn," Mr Pita said. He added that a significant increase would mean a gain of 10% or more.
His MFP won the May 14 general election with 151 House seats and Pheu Thai was the first runner-up with 141 seats.
In addition, the eight coalition allies stated that MFP alone proposed to amend Section 272 of the constitution in order to strip the senators of the right to vote for prime minister. The seven other coalition allies had nothing to do with the proposed amendment, Mr Pita said.
MFP proposed the amendment idea after most senators turned down Mr Pita's nomination as prime minister last week.
Mr Pita said he stood firm that his party would push for the amendment of the lese majeste law (Section 112 of the Criminal Code) as it was a main promise in its election campaign.
Many senators and representatives strongly opposed the change and cited it as the main reason for not supporting Mr Pita as the next prime minister.
The third round of the prime ministerial vote is set for Thursday.
