Explainer: why was the winner of Thailand's election blocked from becoming prime minister?
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Thursday, July 20, 2023
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The Thai parliamentary election was held over two months ago and yet, the country still has no prime minister or government.
Key Points:
- The Thai parliamentary election was held over two months ago and yet, the country still has no prime minister or government.
- While much remains in flux, one thing appears certain – the popular reformist leader of the party that received the most votes in the election, Pita Limjaroenrat, will not be the country’s next prime minister.
- So, why has the winner of the election been blocked from taking office?
Who is Pita?
- However, it was soon replaced by the newly established Move Forward Party, and Pita was elected its leader in March 2020.
- Even more astonishing was Move Forward’s almost clean sweep of Bangkok, winning 32 out of 33 seats.
- Pita then built a coalition of eight parties that together controlled 312 of the 500 seats in the House, a clear majority.
Why was Pita disqualified?
- Before the first round of parliamentary voting, Pita and his party were presented with two other significant hurdles – the Constitutional Court had received two cases against them.
- The second, referred by the Election Commission, argued Pita should be removed as an MP for knowingly holding shares in a media company when he registered.
- Pita was allowed to contest the first round of voting on July 13 nonetheless, but fell short, winning 324 votes.
Why do conservatives oppose Pita?
- A new book on the Thai king by an exiled academic, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, was also recently banned for defaming the monarchy.
- Pita and his party have also committed to push for a bill to legalise same-sex marriage and improve gender equality in Thailand.
- But it also made the party a target of powerful, anti-democratic, conservative forces, particularly the military, the monarchy and their supporters.
So what could happen next?
- Many young people feel as though the conservative forces in Thai society have stifled the democratic will of the people – yet again.
- There is a chance this is true and we are on the cusp of a surge of democratic power in Thailand.
- But for many long-time observers of civil-military relations in Southeast Asia, this view might turn out to be overly optimistic.