The appointment of the prime minister, who may or may not be a member of parliament, is an essential part of any democracy, including Thailand. However, recent moves by some key parties have brought attention to the need for greater accountability in the country's political processes.
On Wednesday, the Pheu Thai Party, which aims for a "landslide victory" in the upcoming May 14 election, will announce its three prime minister candidates. The party has unofficially indicated that Paetongtarn "Ung Ing" Shinawatra, Thaksin Shinawatra's daughter, and property tycoon Srettha Thavisin will be among the trio.
What's surprising is that neither individual is among the Pheu Thai Party's proposed party list MPs, according to news reports, raising questions about the principles of accountability and transparency in a functioning democracy.
After the Bloody May uprising in 1992, which overthrew coup maker Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon and restored civilian rule and elections in Thailand, the demand for the prime minister to come from an elected process has increased.
This criterion was even included in the 1997 and 2007 constitutions, stipulating that a prime minister must be a member of the House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, this requirement was removed in the current 2017 charter following the 2014 coup staged by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
It cannot go without saying that the Pheu Thai Party earlier led calls that the prime minister must be an MP.
Last year, Pheu Thai even submitted a charter amendment bill to parliament proposing two significant changes.
Firstly, it wanted to revoke Section 272 of the constitution to exclude senators from the vote process of the prime minister, and secondly, it wanted to amend Section 159 to require that the prime minister must be an MP.
Therefore, Pheu Thai's decision to nominate individuals who are not included in its MP list as prime minister candidates raises questions about the party's democratic integrity. In principle, the prime minister should be accountable to the people in some way.
The best and most direct way is for the prime minister to be elected by voters -- or at least be an MP of the party. That will make them accountable to the party's policies and campaign promises, which should reflect the voters' voice.
The reluctance of Ms Paetongtarn and Mr Srettha to be listed as MP candidates may be viewed as an attempt to avoid close examination of MP ethics. This undermines the principles of transparency and accountability, which are essential to a functioning democracy.
Even the Future Forward Party, which is considered a political ally of the Pheu Thai Party, has demanded the prime minister should only come from among MPs.
Apart from Pheu Thai, the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) has announced the nomination of Gen Prayut as a prime minister candidate, and he will not be among the party's list MPs either.
Despite this, Gen Prayut claims to uphold democratic principles in his decision to run for the premiership again.
His decision not to seek a place on the party list places that in doubt.
If the Pheu Thai Party and UTN truly believe in democracy, they should demonstrate their commitment from the beginning by ensuring that their candidates for prime minister are also listed as MPs of the party.
