BANGKOK - Pita Limjaroenrat stood on the back of a truck, waving to hundreds of cheering supporters and signing autographs, a day after he led his Move Forward party to an extraordinary victory in Thailand's general election. Behind him loomed a giant portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the head of a once seemingly untouchable institution that Move Forward has for...
Supporters of Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat cheer as they celebrate the party's election results in Bangkok, Thailand on May 15.BANGKOK - Pita Limjaroenrat stood on the back of a truck, waving to hundreds of cheering supporters and signing autographs, a day after he led his Move Forward party to an extraordinary victory in Thailand's general election.
Hours before Monday's victory parade, the youthful 42-year-old walked out in front of the press at party headquarters and declared: "I'm Pita Limjaroenrat, the next prime minister of Thailand." Pheu Thai, which won the last five general elections but got pushed out of power each time, secured 141 seats, according to the latest projections, only 10 fewer than Move Forward.
Move Forward has promised to press ahead with a plan to amend a strict lese majeste laws against insulting the monarchy, which critics say have been used to stifle dissent. He cut his teeth working as a staff member to a minister in an administration led by then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who founded the original incarnation of Pheu Thai.
But in February 2020, a court ordered the party dissolved and Thanathorn and 15 other party executives banned from politics for a decade for violation of election rules.[[nid:629766]]Youth-led street protests erupted months later, as thousands called for reforms, including a new constitution to replace one drafted during military rule, amid unprecedented public criticism of the monarchy's influence on politics and society.
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