Meechai Ruchuphan, a former senate speaker, was today elected as the speaker of Thai National Legislative Assembly.

Meechai won 167 votes out of 242 NLA members.

Before NLA started the voting, NLA members agreed to a proposal that they would vote twice to select the speaker out of concerns that the speaker would possibly not get more than half of the chamber.

However as Meechai won more than half of the 242 NLA, the second round was not necessary.

Five weeks after the Sept. 19 bloodless coup d'etat that brought down the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, Thailand's 242-member National Legislative Assembly has begun to function as the Kingdom's single-chamber parliament after being appointed by the Council for National Security (CNS).

Meechai, 68, twice served as Senate Speaker and is considered the Kingdom's top legal expert. He was Prime Minister's Office Minister during the administrations of Prem Tinsulanonda and Chatichai Choonhavan.

Under the interim charter, the National Legislative Assembly is mandated to serve as the House of Representatives, the Senate at the same time. NLA members may submit motions to question cabinet members, but the ministers have the right to refuse to answer. Legislators cannot pass a vote of confidence or no confidence.

The militarily appointed NLA includes persons from all walks of life, including politicians, academics, retired and presently serving civil servants, representatives from Muslim organizations, civic group members and media professionals.