Move As it attempts to rule, Forward is under pressure to drop suggested royal reforms.
On Sunday, June 4, at Bangkok’s Pride parade, Pita Limjaroenrat’s followers weren’t sure how to address the 42-year-old politician as he took the stage wearing a vividly colored blouse. Some yelled, “Mr. Prime Minister!” but their pals advised, “I don’t think you can call him that yet.”
Pita is still running for office three weeks after leading his party to a historic election victory in Thailand. He is required to.
Pita would already be in power if Thailand were a typical democracy. In the general election on May 14, his Move Forward Party garnered 14 million votes and 151 seats. The Move Forward tide deals a fatal blow to nine years of military administration when combined with seats won by ally parties.
But as Thailand’s elite hesitantly considers allowing democracy to run its course, Pita is still out in the streets shaking hands with fans and leaders of interest groups instead of setting up his office in Bangkok’s Government House and selecting a cabinet.
In a display of togetherness on Sunday amid internal strife in their new alliance, he grinned for pictures alongside Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who had been his main competitor for the position of premier. In order to get the illusive word that he would be able to assume office, supporters and journalists alike queued up for selfies while the media horde gathered around him thick as ever. The victory of Move Forward, Thailand’s young and progressive opposition, marks a turning point in that country’s sluggish fight for constitutional democracy. When Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin Shinawatra was elected prime minister in 2001, this really got going. However, he was ultimately overthrown by coups and political forces with military affiliations. Every election since, Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party has won the most seats, and this year, they are expected to replicate that feat.
Pita’s Move Forward Party, however, took over the pro-democracy movement last month after shockingly defeating the military-dominated status quo by securing 151 seats. Less than 20% of seats were won by parties with military affiliation in the May election, giving the men in khaki a sobering reminder that their time has past. Pita stated that the election was really about inequality in Thailand in an interview with Asia on May 27. He claimed that during the administration of General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a 2014 coup, the gap between the rich and the poor has become wider.
Pita told, “It’s like we’re learning to ride a bike and this paternalistic person who thinks they know better than the people attempts to knock us off the bike every time, so our economic system cannot really develop. He claimed that structural transformation, beginning with constitutional amendment, decentralized governance, and monopoly busting, is Move Forward’s response to rising inequality.”If you look back 40 years, trickle-down economics was how we created our system. We encouraged foreigners to export and invest, but the domestic economy did not grow very much. We expanded as a result, but inequality increased even more quickly, he claimed.
After winning on May 14 in the late evening, Move Forward wasted no time in celebrating. The following morning, Pita was announcing his triumph in front of the international media, claiming he was prepared to serve as “prime minister for all, whether you agree with me or disagree with me.”
His team immediately started reaching out to seven pro-democracy parties to establish a coalition government. He has spent the last three weeks haggling with the coalition about a shared agenda and ministerial responsibilities. In an effort to soothe markets frightened by Move Forward’s antimonopoly and energy restructuring initiatives, he visited with business and professional groups.
Pita assured that the changeover would be smooth. The day I enter Government House, there won’t be any surprises. However, Prayuth’s caretaker administration is hesitant to relinquish control. Pita’s transition team was reprimanded by the current prime minister in late May for collecting information from ministries.
Prayuth remarked, “That is not appropriate.” Civil servants are still employed by the current administration. In the future, it will be your enterprise.
Many people doubt that there will be any kind of transformation. Pita’s coalition still has a long way to go before he can assume power, despite having a mandate. He must first wait at least 60 days while the Election Commission scrutinizes every minute detail of a decisive vote that garnered a record-breaking 75% turnout. The power Pita’s party has diminishes with each passing day, raising the possibility that some insignificant detail would be used to overturn Move Forward’s triumph. Second, Pita needs to persuade a sizable number of senators to support him.
A wise individual told that he didn’t think Pita could get enough support from the military-appointed senate to become president. The idea of a Move Forward government was deemed “nuts” by a senior courtier close to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the supreme ruler of the nation, who also projected a protracted caretaker period under Prayuth.
The day after the election, Pita stated, “I’m not scared, but I’m not careless, but with the consensus that came out of the election, it will be quite a costly price to pay for someone who is thinking of abolishing the election results or forming a minority administration.
Thailand’s troubled past
Prayuth, the third longest-serving prime minister since a coup ended Siam’s absolute monarchy in 1932, has resided in Government House, a massive Venetian gothic building from the 1920s, since 2014. Following a general election in 2019 held under Thailand’s 22nd constitution, prepared by the military and adopted in 2017, Prayuth was reinstated as prime minister.
