BANGKOK - Thai reformist leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become prime minister ended on Wednesday despite his party winning the most votes in the May elections, after the military and pro-royalist establishment blocked his bid for power.

Mr Pita’s Move Forward Party (MFP) has ridden high on the support of young and urban Thais frustrated by nearly a decade of army-backed rule, but its efforts to form a government have stumbled.

The 42-year-old was dramatically suspended from Parliament while seated in the chamber for discussions on his candidacy, which came to an end when lawmakers voted to refuse considering him for a second ballot.

“I would like to say goodbye until we meet again,” he said, raising his fist as he left the assembly floor to the cheers of party allies.

Mr Pita’s suspension came when Thailand’s Constitutional Court said it would proceed with a case that could see the leader disqualified from Parliament altogether for owning shares in a media company.

Lawmakers are forbidden from doing so under Thailand’s Constitution, though the TV station in question has not broadcast since 2007.

Mr Pita, Harvard-educated and wealthy from a family-run agrifood business, has said the shares were inherited from his father. He has 15 days to respond to the case.

After he left Parliament, lawmakers voted by a large margin to rule that he could not be considered for the post a second time.

“Pita can’t be nominated twice in this parliamentary session,” Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said over howls of protest from within the chamber, immediately before the day’s proceedings were called to an end.

Dozens of supporters cried and shouted abuse at a large riot police cordon guarding the gates of Parliament after news of Mr Pita’s suspension broke.

“Why even ask people to go to the polls?” one protester, who did not give his name, told AFP.

Protesters began gathering in the evening for a public rally near Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, and the police said they were prepared for any unrest.

“No matter what their opinions are, they need to follow rules and orders set by the police,” said Mr Archayon Kraithong, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Police.

Roadblocks

Last week, Mr Pita lost his initial bid for the premiership in a parliamentary vote. A second vote was scheduled for Wednesday, where he needed the backing of more than half of the bicameral Parliament to become the next prime minister.

Earlier, Mr Pita had said he was unlikely to have secured enough support to succeed in the second ballot for the premiership.

“It has become obvious that the people’s vote is not enough to rule the country,” he said in a post on his official Instagram account.

Parliamentary rules written by the military after a 2014 coup are skewed in its favour. This has made it extremely difficult for Mr Pita to form a government with an eight-party alliance that continues to back him. 

Wednesday’s twin challenges from both his political enemies and the court were hurdles he had been expecting. 

In an interview on Tuesday, he told Reuters those moves were “pre-planned” and questioned the timing, describing efforts by the royalist military to thwart him as like a “broken record”. 

Apart from those challenges, the court has also agreed to hear a case alleging that MFP’s campaign promise to amend Thailand’s royal defamation law is tantamount to a plan to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

Mr Pita’s party has refused to compromise on its pledge to revise the law, which can allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be jailed for up to 15 years.

The MFP’s reformist platform also poses a threat to family-owned business monopolies that play an outsized role in the kingdom’s economy.

Compromise candidate

Last Saturday, Mr Pita vowed to step aside to make way for another party to form a government if his second attempt failed.

The coalition backing him is expected to fall in line behind property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, potentially relegating MFP to serve in opposition.

Mr Srettha’s Pheu Thai party is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political clan, whose members include two former prime ministers ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014.

But as a successful entrepreneur liked by fellow business leaders, the 60-year-old is seen as a potential compromise acceptable to the Thai elite.

Thailand has been run by a caretaker administration since March, and 65 days have passed since MFP’s stunning election triumph over parties backed by the military after nine years of a government controlled by generals. AFP, REUTERS