Thailand's 40s Prime Minister Dream Dashed: "Pita Candidate Cannot Be Renominated"

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP)
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The prime ministerial bid of Pita Limjaroenrat (43), leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which emerged as the largest party in Thailand's May general election, has come to a halt.

The opposition coalition of eight parties, including the Move Forward Party, re-nominated Pita as their candidate for the second round of prime ministerial voting in the upper and lower houses on the 19th, following his failure to secure a majority on the 13th. However, the vote itself was canceled. According to local media and foreign reports, military-aligned lawmakers argued that a proposal rejected once cannot be resubmitted, thus opposing the re-nomination of the candidate.

The opposition countered that nominating a prime ministerial candidate is different from reintroducing a bill. After more than eight hours of debate, the parliament began a vote to decide whether Pita could be re-nominated. As in the first round of prime ministerial voting, the majority of lawmakers opposed Pita’s re-nomination. Amid protests from Move Forward Party lawmakers, House Speaker Wan Nor Mata declared, "Pita cannot be nominated twice as a prime ministerial candidate in this session."

Moreover, during the debate, Pita left the parliament following the Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend his parliamentary duties. Earlier, the Election Commission referred the case to the Constitutional Court, claiming that Pita’s candidacy was illegal due to his ownership of shares in a media company. The Constitutional Court accepted the case and suspended his parliamentary duties until a ruling is made. Depending on the court’s decision, Pita could be stripped of his parliamentary seat. The court is also set to review the constitutionality of the Move Forward Party’s push to amend the lese-majeste law, raising the possibility of the party’s dissolution in the worst-case scenario.

Pita shook hands with fellow lawmakers and raised his fist as he left the parliament. He posted a photo of himself exiting the parliament on social media with the caption "I'll be back."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.