In Thailand, obstacles to the inauguration of aspiring prime minister Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of the legislative elections, continue. The leader of the reformist Move Forward party did not reach the votes in parliament on Thursday to become prime minister. Next Wednesday there will be a new vote in the legislature. Will Limjaroenrat be able to change the vote of the senators?
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With RFI’s correspondent in Bangkok, Carol Isoux.
After the failure of the candidacy of Pita Limjaroenrat this Thursday, July 13 in the Parliament of Thailand, the eight parties of the coalition that won the elections could choose another candidate.
Limjaroenrat said he wants to stand in a vote scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, according to Thai media reports.
read alsoThai Parliament rejects election winner Pita Limjaroenrat
“I’m not going to give up,” he declared. She will be able to continue in the race, as long as the Thai courts do not disqualify his candidacy in the meantime. The courts have opened several legal proceedings against him and the courts could decide to disqualify him.
Barricades in Bangkok
But given the broad popular mandate that Pita obtained in the legislatures, it would be a decision for the stability of the country. After the no vote on Thursday, protesters erected barricades in Bangkok and the authorities mobilized the police.
For his supporters, the spate of lawsuits facing Limjaroenrat are a strategy by traditional elites to avoid ceding power. “I am worried by all these intrigues. They mean we will have to keep fighting,” one of his supporters on the street told RFI.
Wednesday’s vote will be repeated over and over again until one candidate achieves a majority in Parliament. “Between now and July 19, it is possible that Limjaroenrat will be able to expand his coalition and thus obtain a vote that exceeds 375 legislators. He could exert pressure to change the vote of some senators, since it is above all theirs that he will have to get votes from, ”says the Thailand expert at the French Institute for International and Strategic Research, Sophie Boisseau.
