In what could be a major blow to Pita Limjaroenrat’s PM bid, Thailand’s Election Commission has sent his shareholding case to the Constitutional Court this morning.
According to a Thai PBS World report, the EC made its decision this morning and submitted the case for the Constitutional Court’s consideration.
The Constitutional Court will be meeting at 1pm today to consider if Pita will be suspended in the meantime as they consider his case.
In doing so, the EC also requested that the Move Forward leader, whose party won the most votes in the May 14 general election, be prevented from working as an MP until the court decides if it will accept the case. The court is expected to make a decision in the next 3 days.
According to Thai PBS World, the EC decided at a meeting this morning that it agreed with a recommendation from its fact-finding committee that there is enough evidence to prove that the PM candidate held 42,000 shares in the iTV media company when he registered as a political candidate.
A vote on Pita for PM is scheduled to take place tomorrow, July 13, during a joint sitting of the House and Senate.
In response to the EC’s move, the Move Forward Party accuses it of flouting its own rules in reaching its decision, saying this constitutes malfeasance in office and violates Section 157 of Thailand Criminal Code.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
