Thai Prime Minister’s Leading Contender Awaits Court Hearing on Suspension

On Wednesday, the Thai Constitutional Court agreed to hear a case accusing the first candidate for prime minister, Pita Limgarwinrat, of attempting to overthrow the monarchy.

The decision comes on the same day as another unrelated case against him.

The court statement said the case alleges that PETA and his progressive party, Move Forward, promised during the election campaign to amend the royal defamation law to try to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy.

Thailand’s election commission said on Wednesday it had concluded there was evidence that the top candidate for the country’s next prime minister, a reformist with strong support from progressive young voters, had violated election law and had taken his case to the Constitutional Court for a ruling.

The committee’s decision included a request to suspend, in court order, the leader of the Move Forward party, Peta Limjaronrat, from her membership of Parliament until the verdict. Thai media reported that the court would not issue any ruling on Wednesday and indicated that it may need some time to consider the case.

PETA could still be nominated on Thursday when parliament meets to vote on a new prime minister. But the committee’s move raises fresh doubts about whether he can muster enough votes to secure the post, already a struggle due to Thailand’s deep political divisions.

The Move Forward party, which has a progressive reform platform, scored a surprising first place in the general election in May, taking 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives and the most popular vote.

Move Forward had assembled a coalition of eight parties and 312 seats that was planning to seize power. But the unexpected endorsement from members of the 250-seat conservative Senate, which is voting for prime minister, makes Pete’s path to power difficult.

The PETA party responded to the committee’s decision by questioning its fairness and even its legality. She said her decision was unnecessarily rushed and violated her procedures by not contacting PETA to make a statement.

The commission had earlier said it acted properly, but Move Forward alleges it may have violated the malfeasance law, making an official who wrongfully performs or fails to carry out his or her statutory duties subject to a criminal penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine.

The suit against Peta hinges on allegations that he owns shares in a media company, which would prevent him from running for office. The complaint against him, brought by a member of a rival political party, applies to the 2019 general election period. Peta has challenged the basis of the claim, which extended to his failure to include shares in a mandatory declaration of assets.

The case brought to court by the commission goes beyond technical election law violation and accuses Peta of running for office knowing he is ineligible, with the criminal violation punishable by a maximum of three years in prison and/or a fine of up to 60,000 baht ($1,720). The party faces a fine of up to 100,000 baht.

Interim Deputy Prime Minister Wessano Kre Ngam, the government’s chief legal adviser, was quoted as saying that if party leader PETA is judged ineligible to endorse his party’s candidates for the May elections, the election may be annulled and new elections called.

There have been concerns since the election that Thailand’s conservative ruling establishment will use what its political opponents see as dirty tricks to stay in power.

For a decade and a half, courts and so-called independent state agencies such as the Election Commission have been repeatedly used by courts to issue controversial rulings to cripple or drown out political opponents.

The dissolution in 2019 of the Future Forward party, one of the forerunners of the Move Forward movement, sparked strong street protests by pro-democracy activists that were only delayed when the coronavirus pandemic struck.