The progressive candidate Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of the legislative elections on May 14 in Thailand, announced on Saturday July 15 that he would withdraw his candidacy for the post of prime minister if he lost the new vote scheduled for Wednesday in Parliament after a first failure on Thursday.
“I am ready to give Thailand a chance by letting the party come second in terms of votes (…) be the one who will form the coalition”, said the leader of the Move Forward movement. The deputy needs the rallying of around fifty senators (out of 250) appointed by the army to reach the necessary majority – a scenario deemed unlikely according to experts.
“It is clear that Move Forward has no real chance of forming a government”he admitted. “But until that day, we’re not going to give up. And I ask everyone to fight until the end”insisted the leader.
Profile too radical
The darling of the younger generations, the Move Forward party inflicted a stinging setback at the polls on the army, in power since the 2014 coup, on the basis of a program echoing the pro-democracy demonstrations of 2020.
But Pita Limjaroenrat, although supported by a majority coalition in the National Assembly, remains blocked on the steps of power, because of the opposition of senators, who consider his profile too radical.
Second force in Parliament, the powerful opposition party Pheu Thai, associated with the former prime minister in exile Thaksin Shinawatra, repeated Friday that it continued to respect the coalition agreement.