BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's parliament on Thursday postponed a vote to choose a new prime minister after a Constitutional Court ruling, prolonging the kingdom's political deadlock nearly three months after an election.
The reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May's polls but fell well short of a majority, and an eight-party coalition was not enough to get its leader Pita Limjaroenrat approved as premier.
The 42-year-old was blocked by junta-appointed senators spooked by MFP's pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws, then was denied the chance to be renominated a week later -- throwing Thailand into political turmoil.
On Thursday the Constitutional Court said it needed more time to decide whether to hear a petition challenging the legality of that decision.
This prompted house speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha to delay another vote to choose a PM that had been scheduled for Friday.
"The vote for the prime minister tomorrow is postponed -- we will have to wait for the Constitutional Court decision on August 16," he told reporters.
The court said it needed to weigh more evidence on whether to accept the case brought by the official ombudsman.
The developments come a day after MFP dropped out of the coalition it once led -- now headed by the Pheu Thai party, which came second in the election.
Pheu Thai has said property tycoon Srettha Thavisin will be its PM nominee, but following Thursday's events it cancelled a press conference that had been planned to announce a new coalition.
"We have enough votes to set up the government," Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters.
"The delay of the Constitutional Court will allow us to be even better prepared."
- Political machinations -
To become prime minister, a candidate must be approved by a majority of both houses of parliament -- including 250 senators appointed under the last junta.
Without MFP's 151 seats, Pheu Thai has been in talks with other parties to build a parliamentary majority.
This has included some parties involved in the outgoing army-backed coalition government, to the disgust of MFP supporters and even some of Pheu Thai's own followers.
Adding to the febrile political atmosphere, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to return to Thailand next week after 15 years in self-imposed exile to avoid criminal charges he says are politically motivated.
Pheu Thai is the latest incarnation of the political movement founded by Thaksin more than 20 years ago, and he continues to loom large despite his long absence from the kingdom.
May's election was the first since youth-led street protests in 2020 that shocked the kingdom with unprecedented calls for reforms to Thailand's untouchable monarchy.
Harnessing that desire for change, MFP rode a wave of support from young and urban Thais weary of almost a decade of army-backed rule.
The progressive opposition ultimately routed the outgoing conservative government headed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha, a former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup.
But MFP's commitment to reform the royal defamation laws that protect King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as well as its pledges to tackle the business monopolies that dominate the economy, saw it run into bitter resistance from the kingdom's powerful establishment.
While Pita's prime minister bid ultimately crashed on the rocks of opposition from the Senate, numerous parties have made it clear they would not support any government involving MFP.
So despite winning the most votes and most seats, MFP has agreed to go into opposition, insisting it can still effect change despite not holding power.