BANGKOK: Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) recommended on Wednesday (Jul 12) that the Constitutional Court suspend prime minister frontrunner Pita Limjaroenrat over allegations that he broke campaign rules as an MP, just a day before a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister.
Pita’s progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats at May’s election, as voters delivered a crushing rejection of the army-linked parties that ran the kingdom for nearly a decade.
But he has faced a number of challenges, and last month the EC set up a special committee to investigate whether he was qualified to run for office.
“The EC will send a case to the Constitutional Court for ruling,” a commission statement said on Wednesday.
Chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong confirmed to AFP that the body had recommended the court suspend Pita as an MP.
It is unclear when the Constitutional Court may rule, should it accept the case, although the body is due to meet on Wednesday.
But the decision will cast yet more uncertainty over parliament’s vote for prime minister on Thursday.
Under Thailand’s rules, even if Pita is suspended as an MP, he is still eligible to run for prime minister.