The Senate has voted down the nomination of the former deputy president of the Supreme Administrative Court for the position of its president.

The nomination of Wissanu Waranyoo was rejected by 158 votes to 45 in a secret ballot, according to Senate president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai today.

He was nominated by a standing committee, which vetted his background and ethical behaviour record.

Wissanu was, however, criticised for being close to Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, mentor of Move Forward Party core members, whose views are known to be in favour of monarchy reform.

Wissanu attended Piyabutr’s wedding and took to the stage to propose a toast to the bride and groom.

Moreover, digital footprints showed that he once wrote on his Facebook page about a protest in front of the late former Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda’s residence, using negative words to describe Gen Prem.

Wissanu defended himself in an open letter to the senators in March, stating that he attended the wedding as Piyabutr’s teacher and has nothing to do with Piyabutr’s political stance.

Regarding the message on his Facebook page, he said he simply shared somebody’s message to mock the protesters sarcastically.

He personally holds no negative feelings or opinions towards Prem, he claimed.