Former House speaker Chai Chidchob has agreed to be the acting House speaker and preside over the first meeting of the Lower House which will be held to elect the new speaker and the deputies, said House of Representatives secretary-general Pornsak Pianvech.
Mr Chai, the 91-year-old veteran politician, accepted the invitation, although no date has been set yet to convene the first meeting.
The first Lower House meeting will take place in the afternoon at the auditorium of the TOT Plc Co headquarters on Chaeng Watthana Road. On the same day, the Senate will meet in the morning when a royal command will be read endorsing the appointment of all 250 senators. After that, the senators will be sworn in.
Mr Pornsak stressed the senators must attend the swearing-in ceremony or they will be regarded as not fully having assumed Senate status.
In electing the House speaker, if only one candidate is nominated by MPs, that person will automatically become the speaker. If there is a contest, an MP must receive the support of at least 20 fellow House members to be a House speaker candidate.
In such cases, a secret ballot will be organised in which the candidate who garners the most votes will be named House speaker. Representatives from five parties in the Lower House will sit on a committee to officiate the counting of the speaker candidate ballots.
Mr Sorasak said after the House speaker is selected, the House will then elect the deputies.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, said parliament would convene on May 22 -- the fifth anniversary of the 2014 military coup.
However, His Majesty the King is scheduled to officially open parliament on May 24.
