Persistent petitioner and former candidate for the Palang Pracharath Party, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, was summoned by the Election Commission to provide his statement regarding his petition against Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat.
Ruangkrai Leekitwattana accused Pita of holding onto 42,000 iTV shares when applying for office in 2019, which is against the charter.
If the EC agrees with the petition, they could ask the Constitutional Court to disqualify Pita from taking office and ban him from politics.
Ruangkrai stated that if Pita became prime minister and the court ruled against him after he picked his cabinet members, the entire new cabinet could be disbanded as well.
Pita earlier denied that the shares belonged to him.
He stated that it was an inheritance that belongs to his family, and he is only the caretaker of the inheritance.
Apart from Ruangkrai, the EC also summoned another serial petitioner, Sonthiya Sawasdee, and Nopparut Worachitwuttikul, former leader of the 2006 White Dove Group, who have filed similar petitions against Pita.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
The other two names reported in the news were former deputy prime minister Chaturon Chaisang and former House deputy speaker Suchart Tancharoen.
In response to caretaker deputy PM Wissanu's comment that if MFP leader Pita was disqualified, there could be a new election, Chonlanarn said that might not be the case all the time, citing his previous personal experiences.
If we are to suspend any enforcement of the charter, the suspension of the senator's power to vote for PM should be considered first, Thai Sang Thai PM candidate Sita Divari said.
"If we do that, we will achieve a government of the people"
His remarks were made in response to Senator Jadet Insawang's suggestion to set aside the enforcement of certain "problematic laws" in the charter in order to establish a "national government" that excludes opposition.
Yesterday, Varawut Silpa-archa, the leader of Chart Thai Pattana, stated that the meeting between Pheu Thai PM candidate Srettha Thavisin and Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul at a football match abroad could be viewed as the formation of a national government.
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said after the meeting between the party's economic team & representatives from The Thai Chamber of Commerce that the party will persist in advocating for an increase in the daily minimum wage to Bt450 per day.
National Police Chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas admitted that police bribery rings, specifically involving truckers attempting to evade regulations, have been in existence for a considerable period.
He stated that he has instructed the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to initiate a fresh investigation into these bribery rings.
Furthermore, he has directed the OIG to expand the scope of their investigation to include all individuals involved, without any exceptions.
He said Major General Ekkarat Limsangkat, the commander of the Highway Police Division, was reassigned to an inactive position within the Central Investigation Bureau to facilitate the internal affairs police in conducting their investigation without any hindrances.
The Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy Committee unanimously voted to raise the policy interest rate by 25 basis points from 1.75% to 2%, in line with market expectations.
The MPC said the Thai economy is expected to continue expanding, driven mainly by tourism and private consumption. It also anticipates a gradual recovery in exports.
According to the commerce ministry, exports decreased by 5.2% YoY to $92 billion for the first 4 months of 2023.
The MPC noted that headline inflation has slowed down, but core inflation remains elevated.
In April, headline inflation rose by 2.67% YoY, compared to March's 2.83% increase.
Core inflation, on the other hand, increased by 1.66% YoY in April, down from 1.75% YoY in March.
Caretaker Deputy PM, Wissanu, said if Move Forward Party leader, Pita, is disqualified from office due to his media shares holding case, the previous election would be nullified, and a new election would have to be conducted.
Wissanu explained that if Pita is disqualified as a member of parliament and as the prime minister, the MFP MPs who were endorsed by him as the party leader could also face disqualification.
In such a scenario, there would have to be a new election, he said.
However, Wissanu clarified that this is just one possibility, and he is not aware of all the details of the petitions filed against Pita.
Three petitions have accused Pita of holding 42,000 iTV shares while in office, which is in violation of the charter.