Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat says he’s ‘not giving up’ after falling short of votes to be PM

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party, failed in his first bid to gain the 376 votes from Thailand’s parliament he needs to become prime minister, after conservative lawmakers led by an unelected Senate blocked his bid for office. Pita had 324 endorsements, 52 short of the magic number. He said he “accepted” the result but would press on. “I have accepted that I couldn’t reach the 376 … but we got 324 with 200 abstentions,” he said, blaming “pressure” on a number of lawmakers who did not get behind him or failed to attend. “I’m going to strategise again and consolidate the voice to make sure we reach 376.” A few thousand supporters decked in orange filled a public park in front of parliament, where large hoardings and a heavy police presence restricted access to protesters. They cheered votes for Pita and howled disapproval as the Senate abstained or voted against Pita, taking with them his chance to be premier at the first attempt. “We knew what the senators will do … But sooner or later change is coming,” said Kwanchai, 75, who has witnessed decades of pro-democracy struggles. “Pita will break through eventually, no matter what. Even my generation want change – they didn’t know how wrong the system was until the last few years ... now they do, there is no going back,” he said, requesting to give one name only. Thailand’s Pita confident of being PM as parliament sets July 13 vote A delay in government formation will hurt policymaking in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, which has already been lagging neighbours in terms of growth during and after the pandemic. An added risk is protests by Pita’s supporters, which can dent tourism – the only economic engine that’s firing on full cylinders right now. “This prolongs political uncertainty,” said Nattaporn Triratanasirikul, an economist at Kasikorn Research Center. “The longer the delay, the greater the economic impact will be.” MFP won 14 millions votes with a radical prescription for Thailand’s ills, including tackling monopoly businesses, guaranteeing free speech, unplugging the army from power and reforming the royal defamation law, which criminalises criticism of the powerful monarchy. In constitutional rules scripted under Prayuth, a new prime minister needs 376 of the 750 lawmakers across the two chambers of parliament. But the 250-member Senate, hand-picked by Prayuth, ensures the army and its establishment supporters have a veto power and a significant lever into parliament, despite faring poorly in the election. Pita may have two more attempts to persuade conservative rivals to back his premiership. But experts predict an impasse inside parliament, which could ultimately force the pro-democracy side to fragment – and even allow a way back to power for conservative parties despite their poor poll showing. Thailand is at a crossroads, analysts say, with a trenchant old guard out of tune with the economic and social aspirations of young Thais, who say they have also been denied education, freedom and political rights under the years of the authoritarian Prayuth. The army he came from underpins the monarchy, the main source of Thai power. Its role was for the first time publicly called into question by massive pro-democracy protests which dogged the last years of Prayuth’s government. MFP wants to amend the royal defamation law – known as “112” – after scores of those protesters were charged under a law which carries up to 15 years in jail per conviction. ‘Pride always’: Thailand’s Pita eyes marriage equality bill as he seals coalition But the issue is the key dividing line in parliament and wider society. “If you were to allow people to criticise the monarchy without having a law to protect it, people are going to shoot each other,” lawmaker Chada Thaiseth from the third-placed Bhumjaithai party told parliament ahead of the vote. “I may even ask for lawmakers to make a new law to allow those who insult the monarchy to be shot. Wouldn’t that be good?” The Constitutional Court on Wednesday said it would consider whether the “accused intend to overthrow the constitutional monarchy system” with the call for reform of the law, a serious infringement in Thailand’s legal system. Additional reporting by Bloomberg