Court clears way for Thai Parliament to pick new PM three months after elections

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's Constitutional Court cleared the way Wednesday for Parliament to vote for a new prime minister more than three months after national elections by declining to rule on a complaint over the rejection of the winning party's leader.

The court had been asked to decide whether Parliament had violated the constitution by refusing to allow the leader of the progressive Move Forward Party to be nominated for a second time as a prime ministerial candidate.

Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat had assembled an eight-party coalition with a majority in Parliament's lower house.

But under the military-implemented constitution, a new prime minister must receive a majority of votes from both the elected House and the conservative appointed Senate, which was chosen by an earlier military government.

Pita lost a first vote in Parliament for prime minister last month, with many senators voting against him because of his party's call for reform of a law that makes it illegal to defame Thailand's royal family.

Critics say the law, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, has been abused as a political weapon.

Members of the Senate, like the army, see themselves as guardians of traditional conservative royalist values.

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