“HELP WITH THIS MISSION”
All 250 senators were appointed under the junta-drafted constitution, which political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said was a reliable impediment to MFP’s reformist platform.
“It is a way for the authority and the regime to stay in power in the long term and to prevent a pro-democracy government that can stand against them,” he told AFP on Friday.
Pita urged his supporters on Saturday to get “creative” in urging senators to throw their support behind him in the next round.
“I alone can’t change the senators’ mind. Therefore, I ask everybody to help with this mission,” he said.
“Send a message to the senators in every way possible, every way you can think of.”
The MFP’s largest coalition partner Pheu Thai is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political family, whose members include two former prime ministers displaced by military coups in 2006 and 2014.
Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, 60, is widely tipped to be Pheu Thai’s candidate for prime minister if Pita’s bid fails again.
Liked by business leaders among Thailand’s influential elite, he has been touted as a potential compromise candidate.