Move Forward Party Leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat speaks to the media in Thai Parliament after the parliamentary vote for the premiership in Bangkok on July 13, 2023. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
Bangkok: Fresh-faced Pita Limjaroenrat looked set to be Thailand's next prime minister but the pro-democracy challenger's rise to power ground to a halt after he lost a Thai parliament vote to elect the next premier.
The Harvard graduate has shaken up the country's political landscape with his promises of reform after nearly a decade of junta rule, winning the popular vote in a May election that catapulted his Move Forward Party (MFP) into being the largest in parliament.
"I am not giving up," he told reporters after losing the vote.
He said he accepted the first-round loss but would strategise with his team to win a second round. Under Thai rules, the parliament will continue voting until a prime minister is elected.
But Pita must still overcome numerous obstacles, including hurdles from the kingdom's Election Commission (EC), a separate legal case over his determination to reform the country's strict royal defamation laws, and the junta-appointed Senate.
The EC said just a day before the vote it had recommended the Constitutional Court suspend him as an MP following an investigation centred on his ownership of shares in a now-defunct media company.
MPs are prohibited from owning media shares under the Thai Constitution.
While he denied all wrongdoing, the case provided more fuel for senators who were already poised to vote against him.
His eight-party coalition, which includes opposition runners-up Pheu Thai, has 312 seats but is short of the 376-seat majority needed across both houses of parliament to claim the premiership.
Pita won 324 votes overall on Thursday, with 182 votes against his candidacy, while 199 abstained.
Political headwinds
The 42-year-old first appeared on Thailand's political scene as one of a number of fresh faces in the newly formed progressive Future Forward Party in 2018.
The party, having garnered a huge swell of support in the 2019 elections, was battered by legal challenges and dissolved, with its leaders banned from politics.
It was reborn as the Move Forward Party led by Pita, who capitalised on his charismatic dynamism and youthful energy to reach disillusioned voters ready for change.
Among his pitches was a call for a change to the strict lese-majeste laws, which protect Thailand's royal family and carry a prison term of up to 15 years for criticism of the monarchy.
"No matter what, we will push for lese-majeste law reform in the parliament," Pita said on election night, promising not to sell out young voters who backed the party for its courage in tackling the issue.
But his position spooked many in the kingdom's military-appointed Senate, who he needed to convince to back him to succeed as Thailand's next premier.
Ahead of Thursday's vote, the Constitutional Court accepted a case accusing him and his party of attempting to overthrow the monarchy through their campaigning and gave them two weeks to present their defence.
- 'Do not step back' -Pita, who was named one of CLEO Thailand's "50 Most Eligible Bachelors" in 2008, is something of an anomaly in a Thai political landscape populated with ageing power brokers.
After completing high school in New Zealand, he landed an international scholarship to study a Master's of Public Policy at Harvard.
His father died when he was 25 and Pita returned to Thailand to run his family's heavily indebted business Agrifood, turning its fortunes around.
He then became executive director of the transport and delivery app Grab Thailand before entering politics.
Thailand's anti-corruption commission revealed last week Pita has assets worth $2.4 million -- including a watch collection valued at $162,000.
He married Thai TV actress Chutima Teepanat in 2012 and they have a seven-year-old daughter. The marriage broke down in 2019.
His Instagram shows a hands-on dad bouncing on trampolines with his daughter, goofing around and sometimes wearing matching T-shirts.
And Pita's fun side sent social media into overdrive this week when he invited US pop star Taylor Swift to add Bangkok to an Asian concert tour.
"Hey Taylor! Big fan of yours. Btw, Thailand is back on track to be fully democratic after you had to cancel last time due to the coup," he tweeted, referring to the 2014 military take-over by General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Rallying supporters in Bangkok ahead of Thursday's parliamentary vote, Pita promised he would not stop fighting for Thai democracy.
"If you do not step back, I won't."
