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Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) was asked to consider disqualifying the leader of the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, for holding shares in a media company, Bangkok Post reported.

Under Section 98(3) of Thailand’s 2017 Constitution, any person who is the owner or shareholder of any newspaper or mass media business is barred from standing for election.

Should the EC concur, the MFP prime ministerial candidate could be disqualified from the election race.

In 2019, the leader of Future Forward Party Thanathorn Juangroogruagkit was disqualified as a Member of Parliament (MP) due to his shares in V-Luck Media, another media company, according to The Nation.

The Future Forward Party, which was dissolved in 2020, was the predecessor of the MFP.

Rival accuses him

The accusation was brought by Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a candidate from the pro-military ruling Palang Pracharath Party, on May 9, according to an earlier Bangkok Post report.

He accused Pita of owning 42,000 shares in iTV, a media company which shut down in 2007, as of Apr. 27, 2022.

On May 10, he petitioned the EC to conduct an investigation on Pita, claiming that the latter omitted declaring his iTV shares among his 45 assets before being sworn in as a Member of Parliament in the 2019 elections.

Ruangkrai also requested the country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to check whether the MFP leader had falsely declared his assets.

What Pita has to say

In response to the accusation, Pita tweeted on May 9 to say that he was not concerned about the accusation and clarified that he had already informed NACC of the situation “a long time ago”.

ต่อกรณีหุ้น ITV ผมไม่มีความกังวลเพราะ ไม่ใช่หุ้นของผม เป็นของกองมรดก ผมเพียงมีฐานะ ผจก.มรดก และได้ปรึกษาและแจ้งต่อ ปปช. ไปนานแล้ว

ฝ่ายทีมกฎหมายพร้อมเตรียมการชี้แจงอยู่แล้วเมื่อ กกต.ส่งคำร้องมา

เรื่องนี้อาจมีเจตนาสกัด #พรรคก้าวไกล ซึ่งไม่ต้องการเห็นการ #ทลายทุนผูกขาด ในประเทศนี้

— Pita Limjaroenrat (@Pita_MFP) May 9, 2023

The media shares were owned by Pita's father who had passed on in 2006, and as the manager of his father’s estate, he did not manage to find a buyer for the shares, Bangkok Post reported.

In addition, he said that his legal team would be ready to clarify in the event of questioning by the EC.

What is the Move Forward Party?

The MFP, the successor to the Future Forward Party, is a progressive political party and one of the big opposition parties contesting in the upcoming election.

Termsak Chalermpalanupap, the Visiting Fellow and Coordinator of the Thailand Studies Programme at thinktank ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, spoke to Mothership about the party and its predecessor.

He said that the Future Forward Party previously won the support of youth voters due to its strong views about reforming the Thai armed forces, the police, as well as the monarchy.

Similarly, the MFP is gaining ground with the “strong support” of young voters aged between 18 and 25, said Termsak.

He added that the party is popular among those from middle class, as well as undecided voters due to “its firm rejection of the two ageing generals,” namely incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha and his deputy General Prawit Wongsuwan.

Reasons behind Pita & his party's popularity

In the latest opinion poll on May 5, Pita surpassed main opposition Pheu Thai Party’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the most favoured candidate for Prime Minister, Reuters reported.

As of time of writing, he has more than a million followers on Twitter and 935,000 followers on Facebook.

“Well, party leader Pita, I think he is in his late 40s. He looks good, handsome, and more importantly, he is very articulate. He has all the details, he knows all the figures, and he knows how to explain,” Termsak remarked when Mothership asked him about the party leader’s popularity.

He compared MFP to other parties such as Pheu Thai, Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation, noting that they “don’t have good speakers to join (the) TV debate”, while people “can appreciate Pita” who is "intelligent and articulate".

Termsak added that the MFP has “a more clear cut agenda”, such as to implement reforms, reduce the military’s influence and decentralise the government, ending military conscription, enabling direct elections of provincial governors and supporting same-sex marriage.

“So [MFP has] very clear cut policy initiatives, and voters like clear cut ideas”, he added.

However, MFP and Pita could face challenges despite their popularity, as the Senate might be a decisive factor in determining who gets to be prime minister.

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Top image via Facebook/Pita Limjaroenrat - พิธา ลิ้มเจริญรัตน์