The candidate for Thailand’s prime minister, Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of May’s general election, risks a suspension of the National Assembly recommended by the electoral commission on Wednesday over allegations of irregularities.
The announcement plunges the kingdom into uncertainty on the eve of the vote expected by the assembled MPs and Senators to appoint the next head of government, a post only Pita is currently aspiring to.
May voters inflicted a crushing defeat on the conservative camp, but the proposed change risks hitting the brick wall of a constitution that serves the interests of the army that drafted it, and risks it becoming too new demonstrations.
The Electoral Commission considered that there was sufficient evidence to forward MP Move Forward’s file to the Constitutional Court, who was accused of illegally owning shares in a television channel during the election campaign.
Interviewed by AFP, agency president Ittiporn Boonprakong confirmed that he had recommended Pita’s suspension amid political revival in Thailand.
The 42-year-old MP, who risks jail time, the loss of his seat and a 20-year ban, opposes any illegal maneuver.
The kingdom is hoping for a new prime minister after nearly a decade under military rule, when fundamental freedoms dwindled and economic growth stagnated.
“precipitation”
The Move Forward party has caused a surprise with a disruptive program that takes up the calls for more democracy from the huge protests of 2020.
Despite the merger of other pro-democracy opposition parties, including the powerful Pheu Thai party, which is linked to former exile Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and gives him an outright majority in the National Assembly, Pita Limjaroenrat remains blocked on the steps of power.
His supporters see the electoral commission’s decision as a new obstacle set up by conservative, pro-army circles who disapprove of what they consider a program to be too radical.
It was an “abuse of power,” Move Forward denounced in a statement, assuring that the electoral commission had given Pita “no opportunity to explain.”
“Why so much haste? “I see only one reason, which is to affect the outcome of Thursday’s vote,” Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a professor of public law at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, told AFP.
“Senators need a reason not to vote for the winning party’s candidate, which has more than half the seats. They needed a reason to justify their actions and here it is,” he said.
Despite a majority coalition in the lower house (312 MPs out of 500), Pita Limjaroenrat needs the support of about sixty of the 250 senators to come to power. However, a section of the House of Lords, whose members were appointed by the military, refuses to do so.
His controversial plan to reform the strict lèse-majesté law has drawn a red line from senators, self-proclaimed guardians of traditional values.
There is a risk of tension
“The July 13 vote is not about Pita or Move Forward, but about ensuring Thailand gets on the normal path of democracy,” Pita Limjaroenrat said on Tuesday. She advocates a government that emerges from the will of the people.
In the event of a failure on Thursday, MPs and senators will meet as often as necessary pending the appointment of a prime minister, with the possibility of consensus being reached on another candidate.
The Constitutional Court must now state whether it is ready to accept the case.
The powerful body is caught up in several of the cyclical crises that characterize Thailand’s political life, between interference by the army and the judiciary in the democratic process and massive, sometimes violent, demonstrations.
Thailand has seen a dozen successful coups since the absolute monarchy ended in 1932.
The 2020 constitutional court decision to disband Future Forward, the opposition party that replaced Move Forward, pushed thousands of young people onto the streets for sweeping reform of the monarchy.
Move Forward’s program includes a new constitution, ending conscription for men, opening certain markets and legalizing marriage for all.