Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Pita Limjaroenrat, the winner of the election who faces opposition from the army, from his mandate on Wednesday, the same day that the Parliament was to decide on his nomination as Prime Minister.
This is a new twist in a kingdom caught in the spiral of repeated political crises for more than twenty years, between the generals in power and young generations eager for change.
The Constitutional Court suspended Pita Limjaroenrat from his duties as a parliamentarian, while the person concerned attended the debates in the hemicycle on his second candidacy to become head of government.
The judges followed the recommendations of the electoral commission, which accuses the leader of the Move Forward party of owning shares in a television station at the time of the election campaign, which is prohibited by Thai law.
Pita defended himself from any illegal maneuver, and recalled that the media in question, iTV, had not been broadcasting since 2007. He risked banishment from political life for twenty years.
“It has been ordered that (Pita Limjaroenrat) should be suspended from his role as of July 19,” the Constitutional Court wrote in a statement.
This announcement raises fears of new large-scale protests, in a kingdom where army interventions and court decisions have often disrupted the course of democracy, to the advantage of the conservative royalist elites.
Acclaimed for his program of rupture, which echoes the pro-democracy demonstrations of 2020, Pita Limjaroenrat embodies at 42 the renewal desired by the Thais, after almost a decade of domination by the military since the coup d’etat of 2014.
But the champion of the alternation, supported by a majority coalition in the National Assembly, comes up against the blockages of the senators appointed by the army who reproach him for a program deemed too radical vis-à-vis the monarchy.
Although suspended as an MP, Pita can still run to become Prime Minister, because Thai law allows personalities from outside the hemicycle, appointed by a party, to be head of government.
Rejected for the first time by the bicameral Parliament on Thursday, it needs the support of around fifty additional senators (out of 250) to obtain the required majority. Only thirteen of them approved it on the first vote.
His chances of convincing enough members of the Upper House are slim, according to analysts interviewed by AFP.
Some senators, scalded by his plan to reform the lèse-majesté law, even think that Pita should not be allowed to appear, under the rules which prohibit Parliament from discussing the same motion twice during a session.
For the moment, the MP Move Forward, darling of the new generations, is the only declared candidate to become Prime Minister.
“If you vote in accordance with the voice of the people, whatever the result, your name will be engraved in this kingdom with great honor and pride”, he launched for the senators, on Twitter.
In the event of a second defeat, he promised on Saturday that he would withdraw in favor of the Pheu Thai party, the second force in the hemicycle and a member of the pro-democracy coalition.
Businessman Srettha Thavisin (60), with a more consensual profile, is the best placed to take over, but the presence of Move Forward among his supporters could dissuade the senators and thus push him to ally himself with movements more conciliatory with the army.
Added to political uncertainties are court cases, which leave the threat of disqualification hanging over Pita like a sword of Damocles.
In addition to the case related to iTV shares, Pita and Move Forward are accused of wanting to overthrow the monarchy.
Their plan to reform the controversial lèse-majesté law, one of the toughest of its kind in the world, has provoked strong reactions from the conservative camp, which accuses them of undermining the kingdom’s traditional values.
Thailand, where high inequalities persist, has one of the lowest growth rates in Southeast Asia, which calls for major structural reforms.
Economic circles are concerned in the event of prolonged instability, which could impact the vital tourism sector.
Police, barriers and even containers to block the roads … Parliament is squared by an important security device, noted an AFP photographer on the spot.
If the party loses again in Parliament, “there will be a backlash, that’s for sure. There are already some demonstrations, supporters of Move Forward feel cheated, robbed,” said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak.
The dissolution of Future Forward in 2020, the forerunner of Move Forward, led to massive protests in Bangkok demanding more democracy and transparency.
07/19/2023 08:10:23 – Bangkok (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
