Thailand’s election commission is to probe prime ministerial frontrunner Pita Limjaroenrat, the body’s chief said Monday, in the latest setback to his bid for the premiership.
Pita’s progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats at last month’s election as voters delivered a crushing rejection of army-linked parties that ran the kingdom for nearly a decade.
But he has faced a number of challenges and complaints, and the election commission has set up an investigatory committee to look at whether Pita was qualified to run for office.
“There is sufficient information and evidence to warrant further investigation into whether Mr Pita is qualified to run in the election,” commission chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong told AFP.
“The election commission has set up an investigatory committee to investigate further.”
The probe relates to Pita’s ownership of shares in a now-defunct media company — prohibited under Thai election law.
Pita says he inherited the shares in the ITV television station, which has not broadcast since 2007, from his father.
The 42-year-old denies any wrongdoing and the party says it is not worried about the allegations.
“MFP is still confident that people power will win in the end, and the election commission will work honestly based on constitutional principles,” MFP secretary general Chaitawat Tulathon said.
Hurdles
The probe is the latest hurdle thrown in Pita’s path as he seeks to become Thai prime minister.
MFP’s determination to amend Thailand’s tough laws against insulting King Maha Vajiralongkorn has spooked the royalist-military conservative establishment.
Pita has agreed an eight-party coalition which would command a large majority in the lower house.
But to secure the prime minister’s job Pita has to muster a majority across both houses — including the Senate, whose 250 members were handpicked by the last junta.
A number of senators have already said they will not vote for him as prime minister, though Pita and his party are confident of securing the job.
MFP and fellow opposition outfit Pheu Thai dominated the May 14 election, in which voters roundly rejected Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup.
The coalition has announced ambitious plans to rewrite the constitution — scripted by Prayut’s junta in 2017 — as well as ending military conscription and allowing same-sex marriage.
The would-be government has also pledged to tackle the monopolies and oligopolies that dominate some sectors of the Thai economy, notably in brewing and other alcohol production.
But the coalition has not stated its position on lese-majeste reform, though it was a major campaign pledge from MFP.
