Thai power elite thwarts popular choice

It would seem a travesty that Thai prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat, whose eight-party coalition

secured no less than 312 of the 500 seats contested in the May 14 election,

should be denied his opportunity to hold power. But there you have it; the 42-year-old Harvard-educated Pita’s

bid was quashed

when the 250-seat Senate, stacked with military-appointed representatives handpicked precisely to produce outcomes such as this, acted as a conservative bulwark to thwart him by an overwhelming margin. A second attempt failed after Mr Pita was suspended from Parliament pending the resolution

of a court case about owning shares in a dormant broadcasting company

, and legislators then voted to say he could not be re-nominated. Earlier, the Move Forward Party (MFP) was unable to prevail on its coalition allies to secure the position of House speaker either.

A memorandum of understanding inked by Mr Pita’s coalition in May makes no mention of amending the lese majeste law. During the six-hour parliamentary debate, legislators from Mr Pita’s MFP tried to focus attention on governance issues facing a kingdom left adrift for too long. Nevertheless, senators and legislators from the caretaker coalition kept up a steady din on the subject of the monarchy, alleging that MFP could endanger the nation by amending lese majeste.