“The respondent was ordered to suspend his duties… pending a choice by the Constitutional Court,” the court said in an announcement.
Thailand’s structure prohibits lawmakers from owning shares in media corporations, although the TV station in query has not been broadcasting since 2007.
Pita, a Harvard graduate and wealthy owner of his family’s agri-food business, said he inherited his shares from his father.
Thailand Pita vows to face his ground after falling in need of the votes needed to turn into prime minister
Thailand Pita vows to face his ground after falling in need of the votes needed to turn into prime minister
Under Thai law, Pita can still run for prime minister, but she must leave the lower house and is not going to find a way to vote.
Dozens of his supporters, wearing the tangerine colours of the Forward Movement Party, shouted angrily on the thick police cordon outside parliament as news of the suspension broke.
Few expect his party to make up last week’s shortfall, and lawmakers allied with the military immediately forced a debate on whether the law allows Pity to be reconsidered.
Thailand’s Senate is full of military appointees, and only 13 of 249 serving senators voted for Pita last week.
Those who didn’t support him last week are unlikely to be “brave and daring enough” to vary their minds on Wednesday, said Napisa Waitoolkiat, a political analyst at Thailand’s Naresuan University.
More obstacles appeared before Pita’s candidacy.
The court also agreed to listen to a case alleging that the Move Forward Party’s election promise to vary Thailand’s royal defamation law amounts to a plan to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy.
If Move Forward is ruled out, there’ll likely be protests… if protesters overreact, a Pheu Thai-led government would have some justification for cracking down
Pita’s party ignored fierce opposition to its promise to review a law that might allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be imprisoned for as much as 15 years.
The Forward Movement Party’s reform platform also poses a threat to family business monopolies that play an enormous role in the dominion’s economy.
Pita acknowledged Wednesday that lawmakers who’ve gained “personal advantages” from the present ordinance, including those with shares in powerful Thai corporations, will refuse to vote for his party.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth leaves politics 9 years after the coup
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth leaves politics 9 years after the coup
Srettha’s Pheu Thai party is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political clan, which incorporates two former prime ministers ousted in military coups in 2006 and 2014.
But as a successful entrepreneur who’s liked by business leaders among the many Thai elite, the 60-year-old is seen as a possible compromise candidate acceptable to the Thai elite.
Prawit Wongsuwon, 77, a former Thai army chief who served second within the junta that took power in 2014, was also recommend as a candidate by parliament’s military bloc.
“If Move Forward is ruled out, there will likely be protests… if protesters overreact, a Pheu Thai-led government would have some justification for repression.”
