Thailand’s Pita says won’t give up PM bid despite parliament loss

Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat has said he would not give up on his prime ministerial bid after losing in a parliamentary vote for the premiership, where he was 51 votes shy of the required threshold.

Pita said on Thursday that his party would re-strategise to gather the required support to win the next vote on the premier, which is expected to be held next week, and which the 42-year-old politician can contest if nominated again.Pita is the leader of the progressive party that won the most votes in Thailand’s general election on May 14.

He was was unopposed in Thursday’s contest, but could not muster the required support from Thailand’s 749-member bicameral legislature, with a host of abstentions and votes against him.

Pita’s eight-party alliance controls 312 seats in the lower house, but needed 375 votes to be able to form a government.

When voting concluded, Pita had won 323 votes, including 13 from the 249-member conservative-leaning upper house, which was appointed by the military after a coup in 2014.Many senators are opposed to Move Forward’s anti-establishment agenda, which includes a controversial plan to amend a law that bans insulting the monarchy.

The vote on Thursday marked a pivotal moment for Thailand in the aftermath of Move Forward’s shock election success in the May 14 general election and raises fears of renewed political instability in a country that has seen more than a dozen military coups in the past century.

The announcement came just hours after the election commission also recommended that the court disqualify Pita from parliament.

The recommendation followed a probe into Pita’s ownership of shares in a media company. Politicians are not allowed to own media shares. The station has not broadcasted since 2007 and Pita has said the shares were inherited from his father.

“Legislators will reconvene next Wednesday and Thursday if necessary to hold a new vote. All indications show Pita’s name will be re-submitted if he hasn’t been disqualified by then. He is facing legal challenges that could see him removed as a member of parliament,” said Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi, reporting from Bangkok.

“His supporters have said that they see these cases as an attempt to block his bid to become prime minister, but what we do expect from now until next Wednesday is Pita’s coalition of eight parties will likely be conducting negotiations, reaching out to members of parliament and to senators in a bid to get them to vote for [him],” she said.

The development raises the spectre of weeks of deadlock and economic uncertainty in Thailand.