Thai election officials yesterday asked the country’s top court to suspend Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat, the front-runner in the race to become prime minister, over allegations he broke campaign rules as a lawmaker.
The recommendation is the latest hurdle thrown into the path of the progressive candidate, whose MFP scored the most votes in May’s election by tapping into Thais’ appetite for change.
The Thai Election Commission’s referral to the Thai Constitutional Court was announced just a day before parliament was due to vote on a new prime minister.
Photo: AFP
While popular among voters, Pita’s bid to be prime minister faces stiff opposition over his plans to amend Thailand’s royal defamation laws, which protect King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his family.
Pita’s supporters, many of them younger voters opposed to the royalist military’s involvement in politics, called for protests later yesterday, raising the possibility of another round of turmoil in two decades of fractious Thai politics.
Following the commission’s announcement, MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon said the party still wanted the vote to go ahead.
“Tomorrow is a day of crossroads to see if we will continue to disregard the people’s politics, or ... return to normal democracy and move Thailand forward,” he said. “I believe people will not accept it any more.”
Pita told reporters at parliament after the announcement that he was in “good spirits,” adding that “the process tomorrow continues as planned.”
Yet he was struck by a fresh hurdle later yesterday afternoon when the Constitutional Court accepted a separate case centered on the promise of royal defamation law reform.
The court was asked to “consider whether the actions of [Pita and the MFP] ... who have proposed the amendment of 112 in their political campaign, are using their right and freedom to overthrow the constitutional monarchy,” referring to the number of the criminal code article that deals with lese majeste.
The commission’s investigation into Pita centered on his ownership of shares in a now-defunct media company. Legislators are not allowed to own media shares.
“The Election Commission has considered the issue ... and perceives that the status of Pita Limjaroenrat is considered to be voided, according to the Thai Constitution,” the commission said in a statement yesterday.
Even if the constitutional court suspends Pita as a lawmaker, he can still stand for prime minister in the vote today, but if he were to face a criminal investigation, he could be barred from politics or face up to 10 years in prison.
Pita says he inherited the shares in the iTV television station, which has not broadcast since 2007, from his father, and has denied any wrongdoing.
Additional reporting by Reuters
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS