The Thai electoral commission has decided to open an investigation against Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the pro-democracy party winner of the legislative elections last May, for suspicion of irregularities, announced Monday June 12 its president, Ittiporn Boonprakong.
The body must determine whether the 42-year-old politician of the Move Forward movement, tipped to become prime minister this summer, should be disqualified or not, because of the shares he has in a media. "There is enough material and evidence to further investigate Pita Limjaroenrat's qualification for the ballot," Ittiporn Boonprakong said. “The electoral commission has established an investigation committee,” he continued.
Thailand's election code prohibits candidates from owning shares in a newspaper or other type of mass news media. Pita Limjaroenrat explained that he had inherited from his father shares in the television channel iTV, which has not broadcast since 2007. Suspected of having concealed this reason for disqualification when submitting his candidacy, he defends himself from any maneuver illegal and points to a politically motivated procedure.
"Move Forward always has faith that people power will ultimately win, and that the election commission will work honestly based on constitutional principles," party general secretary Chaitawat Tulathon said Monday.
Following the investigation, the electoral commission will decide whether there is reason to transmit the file to the Constitutional Court, which must decide. Mr. Limjaroenrat, threatened with disqualification, faces a prison sentence ranging from one to ten years, and the revocation of his right to vote for twenty years.
Nothing is played before the election by Parliament
This announcement throws confusion around Move Forward, still far from being able to gain power despite a resounding victory at the polls. The standard-bearer formation of the new generations of voters created a surprise by winning the largest number of deputies in Parliament, ahead of the other heavyweight of the pro-democracy opposition, Pheu Thai. The two movements have joined forces in a coalition that hopes to succeed the military, in power since the 2014 coup, severely beaten.
Despite the final results, nothing is decided before the election by the National Assembly and the Senate, expected for the end of July, of the next Prime Minister. Pita Limjaroenrat needs the support of some of the 250 senators, appointed by the army; however, some of them have already announced their opposition to the progressive candidate, whose program calls into question the place of certain institutions deemed favorable to the conservative elites.
Move Forward, for example, promised to rewrite the 2017 Constitution, drafted by the junta then in power, to end compulsory military conscription and to legalize same-sex marriage. The party must also contend with the threat of legal action, a recurring scenario in Thailand's political history, dotted with coups and dissolutions. The dissolution of Future Forward in 2020 led to massive protests in Bangkok demanding more democracy and transparency.
A similar decision against Move Forward could create further major challenges, experts say.
