PETA winner of the legislative elections but rejected as prime minister demonstrations … what we know about the situation

Thailand plunged into a political crisis. Parliament again rejected on Wednesday, July 19, the candidacy of Peta Limjaronrat for the post of Prime Minister, whose platform is too radical towards the monarchy and the army. After more than seven hours of discussions, deputies and senators prevented (394 vs. 312) the progressive leader, who won the legislative elections on May 14, from running for the second time, after failing on July 13 to take over the prime minister.

Beloved by new generations, the leader of the Move Forward party had few illusions before this outcome, in the face of stubborn opposition from the pro-military establishment he is fighting. Earlier today, the country’s Constitutional Court suspended him from serving as a Member of Parliament. The judges followed the recommendations of the Electoral Commission, which accused the deputy of owning a television channel at the time of the campaign, which is prohibited by law. He risks banishment from political life for twenty years.

• Who is Beta Limgaronrat?

Praised in May for its rupture platform, which echoes the pro-democracy demonstrations in 2020, Pita Limjarunrat embodies the renewal Thais have wanted in 42 years, after nearly a decade of domination by the military since the 2014 coup.

However, the champion of rotation, backed by a majority coalition in the National Assembly, was hampered by army-appointed senators who blamed him for his legal troubles and considered his program too extreme towards the monarchy. His project to reform lèse-majesté, one of the world’s harshest of its kind, provoked strong reactions from the conservative camp, which accuses Move Forward of undermining the kingdom’s traditional values ​​and rejects any compromise.

Rama X, the paranoid King of Thailand

So far, the only declared candidate for the post of Prime Minister has been Pita Limjaronrat.

• Who can replace him?

In the event of a second defeat, Peta Limjarunrat promised to withdraw in favor of the Pheu Thai Party, the second force in circulation and a member of the pro-democracy coalition.

Businessman Sritha Thavisin (60), who has a more conciliatory profile, is the better fit to take over, but a forward movement among his supporters may deter senators and thus push him to ally with more conciliatory movements with the military.

• How did the Thais react?

In a kingdom stuck in a whirlpool of political crises for more than twenty years, the failure of the Beta Limgarunrat opens a new period of instability, awakening the scenario of gigantic protests. If the party loses again in Parliament, “There will be a backlash, that’s for sure. There have already been some demonstrations, and Move Forward supporters feel cheated and robbed.”Prior to this sequence, political analyst Thitinan Pongsuderak estimated.

Riot police, enclosures to prevent access, additional fences… Parliament was at the center of an important security apparatus during the deliberations. All day Move Forward supporters gathered near the building to demand that senators make their voices heard. Protesters lit orange smoke bombs, the color of the party. Why do we ask people to go to the polls? »He interrogated one of them, who asked not to be identified.

The dissolution of Future Forward in 2020, the predecessor of the Move Forward movement, led to mass protests in Bangkok calling for greater democracy and transparency.