Despite his political triumph in becoming the country's 30th prime minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha on June 5 experienced a challenge he has not encountered before in more than five years of his regime rule.
His opponents took an opportunity during the joint parliamentary sessions to whip the junta leader verbally, questioning his performance as an unelected leader after the 2014 coup.
The 12-hour debate, chaired by House Speaker Chuan Leekpai and his deputy Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, brought his failures to light: unsuccessful reform attempts, conflicts of interest that gripped his administration, and abuse of power through the draconian Section 44 of the interim charter that backfired.
From now on, Gen Prayut -- who beat his rival PM candidate and Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit by 500-244 votes -- now knows he will have lost his air of untouchability when parliament fully resumes its work in the post-coup era.
In my opinion, the prime minister-elect has little to be proud of after his June 5 triumph. We all know it's the junta that wrote the unfair election rules which enabled him to gain an unjustifiable advantage over his opponent. The mixed member proportional system, imposed by the junta-installed constitutional drafting committee, gave the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) a political advantage.
And the role of the 250-strong Senate, handpicked by his regime, in the PM voting enabled Gen Prayut, who was absent during the session, to win hands down. The Senate's unanimous support for the regime leader was not beyond expectations given its composition: 15 senators are former cabinet ministers; 92 were former members of the junta-appointed National Reform Council and National Legislative Assembly, 95 are former military and police officers, and under the 2017 charter, six are military top brass and the police chief.
A number of senators aggressively defended Gen Prayut during the debate.
One of the senators, Seree Suwannapanon who was also a member of the defunct National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), made his support for Gen Prayut loud and clear, saying he would rather support "dictatorial democracy" rather than "false democracy".
Is there such thing as "dictatorial democracy"? Dictatorship and democracy are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. His use of such a dubious discourse serves only to legitimise Gen Prayut's premiership through illegitimate means.
Another senator, Wanchai Sornsiri, also a former NRSA member, explained that the PM represented 15 million votes gained by the PPRP and its coalition partners. He ignored the fact that it's the pro-democracy Pheu Thai Party that won the majority of MP seats.
Another regime defender, Veerakorn Kamprakob, the PPRP's Nakhon Sawan MP, expressed his gratefulness to the regime, saying he could resume his political career only because the regime "allowed the country to have an election".
These statements were widely quoted on social media, giving rise to the Twitter hashtag RIPThailand.
Politicians in the opposite camp did not give up, with heated arguments lasting for hours.
At one point, Pheu Thai's Bangkok MP Jirayu Huangsap was asked by another lawmaker to retract a sarcastic remark in which he labelled the pro-military representatives "dictator admirers". He finally did, but still coined a new term of "benefactor admirers".
He was right. We are now in a system in which appointed senators feel it's their duty to pay the regime back. Patronage and nepotism have become the order of the day for parliament, while the public interest could end up being forgotten.
This explains the fallacy in the old appointed Senate which struggled to find legitimacy in supporting the regime.
Although Senate support enabled Gen Prayut to gain his political victory, it is useless when it comes to his credibility and legitimacy as prime minister. He cannot get away from the fact that he is an unelected PM.
The retired army-chief-turned-politician will have to brace for criticism and derision by his opponents during parliamentary sessions. The checks and balances in place may not be perfect but the new administration will be tested and, with a thin majority, is obliged be accountable especially when faced with such a strong opposition.
Gen Prayut in his second term can't just walk away or be short-tempered with critics as he has done over the past five years.
Though he will be shielded by his appointed Senate and politicians who join the PPRP-led coalition, Gen Prayut cannot avoid the challenge and will have to struggle a great deal to stay on top.
Paritta Wangkiat is a columnist, Bangkok Post.
