Thai Election Winner Pita Blocked From Prime Ministerial Race

Facts

• The leader of Thailand's election-winning Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, was on Wednesday denied the chance to stand for a second Prime Ministerial vote.¹
• Last week, the 42-year-old Harvard graduate garnered 324 votes, 51 short of the 375 threshold required. Despite winning a majority in the lower house, support was lacking in the military-installed Senate, which claims he poses a threat to the monarchy.²
• After being banned from renomination for the premiership, Pita's supporters expressed outrage online and took to the streets to demonstrate at Bangkok's Democracy Monument in the evening.³
• The Constitutional Court ordered Pita's temporary suspension from parliament earlier on Wednesday, after accepting a case that alleges he was unqualified to run in the May 14 election due to stocks he owned in a media company.⁴
• Move Forward's failure to nominate its leader as prime minister has opened the way for Pheu Thai, Thailand's second largest party, to take the lead of the eight-party coalition pact.⁵
• Thailand has been run by a caretaker administration since March and no government has been formed since the May election, in which Move Forward defeated military-backed parties through a popular vote.⁶

Sources: ¹CNN, ²BBC News, ³The New York Times, ⁴Al Jazeera, ⁵Thai PBS World, and ⁶Reuters.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Fulcrum. The true nature of Thailand's regime is now in plain sight. The decision to not allow Pita to become prime minister has exposed the reality that power in Thailand does not stem democratically from the people, but rather from the conservative establishment.
• Narrative B, as provided by Khaosod English. The fact that Pita has been blocked from premiership may seem discouraging, but there is no time for pessimism or defeatism. Given that Move Forward's main goal is to change Thailand, it's crucial to consider progress with a longer-term perspective than immediate domestic affairs.