Thai opposition leader Pita Limjaroenrat's prospects of becoming Thailand's next prime minister is hanging by a thread as he faces disqualification from parliament for breaching election rules.

Disqualification

According to Bloomberg and Thai PBSWorld, Thailand's Election Commission said on July 12 that it will seek a court ruling on whether Pita should be disqualified.

The EC found that there were grounds to terminate Pita's membership in Thailand's parliament, saying it had found sufficient evidence to show that Pita had owned shares in a media company when he registered his election candidacy.

The EC is asking Thailand's constitutional court to consider ruling on the case, and the court is likely to decide in the next three days on whether is a case to be answered.

The EC has also asked the court to order Pita to suspend his MP duties immediately until the the court decides if there is a case to answer.

Thai PBSWorld reports that Pita's Move Forward party has responded to the EC, accusing it of not following its own regulations, and thus "committing malfeasance in office".

Defunct media company

Pita's Move Forward Party (MFP) has indirectly been at the sharp end of the EC before, with its previous iteration the Future Forward Party (FFP) dissolved in 2020.

Then-leader of the FFP, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit was also disqualified from parliament in 2019 due to owning shares in a media company. 

The case against Pita has been building since May 2023 before the Thai general election, when a member of a pro-military political party raised the accusation against him.

Pita has explained that the 42,000 shares of media company iTV were passed on to him when his father passed away in 2006.

iTV has been described as "defunct" by outlets such as Nikkei.

Prayuth to retire

Pita's Move Forward Party is the single largest party in the newly elected Thai Parliament, and ran on a progressive platform, vowing to reform the Thai military and monarchy.

However, this made him unpopular with conservative elements of Thailand's old guard.

The MFP gained 151 seats, beating out the Pheu Thai party led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter and niece to two former PMs who were ousted by the military.

The party of coup leader and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, United Thai Nation, won just 36 out of 500 parliamentary seats.

Prayuth announced on July 11 that he was retiring from politics, according to Reuters, but will remain in power until a new prime minister is chosen.

Getting to be prime minister

The election of a new PM is lated to take place on July 13 by a joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament.

The upper house consists of 250 senators appointed by the military government, who in 2019 voted as a bloc to elect Prayuth, despite his coalition having a minority in the lower house.

Pita and the MFP have put together a 312 seat coalition, more than enough to win a majority in the lower house.

But it still needs 64 senators to back it, something which seemed unlikely before, but with the EC's recommendation against him, now feels impossible.

The Democrat party of former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva has said that its 25 MPs will not support Pita and will instead abstain. The party is not party of the MFP coalition.

BREAKING: The Democrat Party has resolved after a meeting on Wednesday they will not support Move Forward Party PM candidate Pita Limjaroenrat in tomorrow's bicameral vote. The 25 MPs will simply abstain from voting. #thailand #Pita #Democrat #พิธา #ปชป #โหวตนายก pic.twitter.com/kzcbsAQ29m

— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) July 12, 2023

But is not clear what alternatives exists for the Thai parliament, unless MFP's 8-party coalition fractures, or another PM candidate is moved forward.

If Pita's attempt to become PM is successfully blocked, it will be a blow to his prospects of bringing Taylor Swift back to the country, after he had promised in a tweet that democracy had almost returned to Thailand.

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Top image via Pita Limjaroenrat/FaceBook