Pita, 42, a Harvard graduate, was blocked from the highest job by the senate – whose members were hand-picked by the last junta – due to his determination to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws.
After weeks of backroom bargaining, Pheu Thai leader Chonlanan Srikaew announced that the MFP was leaving the coalition.
“The MFP will not participate in the formation of the new government,” he told reporters.
“Pheu Thai will strive to get enough votes, MFP will be in the opposition, and we will work in a new dimension that will benefit the people.”
The news sparked an indignant protest from some MFP supporters, who burned effigies and shouted insults outside Pheu Thai’s office.
Chonlanan said the party will now field real estate tycoon Sretta Thavisin as its prime ministerial candidate.
To turn into prime minister, a candidate have to be approved by a majority of each houses of parliament – 500 elected lawmakers and 250 senators elected under the last junta.
In the primary vote in parliament, Pita won 324 votes in each houses, with the support of only 13 senators.
He was disqualified from running within the second round and suspended as an MP by the Constitutional Court over his media ownership, which is prohibited for lawmakers under Thai law.
Last month, the MFP announced it was withdrawing from efforts to form a government, allowing Pheu Thai to guide the coalition as an alternative.
The senior MFP leader said the priority was to not appoint Pita as prime minister but to guard Thai democracy by excluding former junta leaders comparable to outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Pheu Thai is seen as a tool of the Shinawatra political clan, whose members include two former prime ministers ousted in military coups in 2006 and 2014.
Talks aimed toward gaining more support for the coalition from other parties revealed the MFP’s insistence on reforming lèse-majesté – a controversial law prohibiting criticism of the royal family – as a serious obstacle, Chonlanan said.
“Several parties have made it clear that they are going to not support any government with the MFP in coalition,” he said.
In addition to the royal defamation reform, the MFP also spooked the Thai establishment with guarantees to reform the military and break up the business monopolies that dominate the dominion’s economy.
Political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said that when Pita loses the prime ministerial vote, Pheu Thai’s expulsion from the MFP is “only a matter of time.”
“The issue now is whether the MFP will continue to support prime ministerial candidate Pheu Thai in order to marginalize the senate,” Thitinan said.
“If so, it would be a disrespect to the coup masterminds.”
The next vote to decide on the prime minister is scheduled for Friday, nevertheless it just isn’t certain whether it should happen.
Confirm Pita as Prime Minister or “get out,” protesters in Bangkok tell Thai senators
Confirm Pita as Prime Minister or “get out,” protesters in Bangkok tell Thai senators
The Constitutional Court is scheduled to announce on Thursday whether it should consider a petition difficult parliament’s decision to disclaim Pita a second round of voting to turn into prime minister.
If Friday’s vote does indeed happen, without the MFP’s 151 lower house seats, Srettha could have to hunt support from other parties – perhaps including the Bhumjaithai Party, which was a part of the outgoing government.
