Viroj Pao-in on party list, but Pheu Thai received no list seats, so he has to step aside

Pheu Thai Party leader Viroj Pao-in visits the government complex in Bangkok in February to register as a party-list candidate. (File photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)

The Pheu Thai Party will have to change its leader because current chief Viroj Pao-in is not an MP and therefore not eligible to serve as Opposition leader.

Pheu Thai won 136 seats in the March 24 election, all of them in constituencies. It was therefore not eligible to seat any party-list MPs under the mixed-member proportional representation method, which limits the number of MPs a party can have based on its popular vote.

With 7.9 million votes in total, the largest party was eligible for 110 seats based on the EC's calculation formula. But since it won more than that in constituencies, it was constitutionally allowed to keep all 136 seats but could not have any party-list seats. As a result, candidates on its 97-member list are not MPs — including core members such as Mr Viroj, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan and Chaikasem Nitisiri. And non-MP members cannot do much in the House of Representatives.

As a result, the party is now waiting for Mr Viroj to resign to pave the way for a new leader who is an MP who can serve as Opposition leader, secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said on Friday. Mr Viroj was elected party leader in October last year.

"We must first wait for Mr Viroj to resign and then the party's executive board will be replaced," he said.

Next week, the issue will be discussed with the incumbent executive board and the party can then hold an annual general assembly. It should be able to nominate the opposition leader in the House by June 20, said Mr Phumtham, who is also not an MP for the same reason.

Responding to the reports that Chiang Mai MP Sompong Amornviwat and Bangkok MP Anudit Nakornthab were candidates for the leadership, Mr Phumtham said Mr Sompong was a long-time party member, a senior politician and a well-recognised former minister who knew politicians of many parties.

Mr Anudit has also served the party well and the nomination of both should not cause a rift within the party, Mr Phumtham said.