On May 22, the Bangkok Post reported that the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) is expected to rule on whether Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Forward Party (MFP), is eligible to run in the election due to his ownership of shares in a media company.
 |
| Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the MFP party that won the Thai elections on May 14th. (Source: Getty Images) |
According to a source cited by the Bangkok Post , the EC is considering a petition from Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a member of parliament from the People's Power Party (PPRP), regarding Pita's failure to declare ownership of 42,000 shares in the media company iTV to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) before he took office as MP in 2019. Each share is worth 5 baht.
Previously, Mr. Pita stated that he did not own these shares because he inherited them from his father. The shares were listed under Pita's name because he was then chosen to execute his late father's estate.
According to the MFP party leader, he explained the issue to the electoral body before being sworn into office.
Leekitwattana's petition also raises the question of whether the registration of MFP parliamentary candidates in all 400 constituencies could also be declared invalid if Pita, who approved their registration, were disqualified due to the iTV shareholding issue.
Thai election law prohibits shareholders in media companies from becoming members of parliament.
The Bangkok Post, citing an EC source, reported that the commission could not invoke the electoral rules governing parliamentary elections in Pita's case, as Section 61 of those rules stipulates that the commission can only disqualify an individual as a parliamentary candidate before the election is concluded.
Now that the election is over, the EC has no legal basis to disqualify a candidate or elected MEP.
Furthermore, Article 82 of the Thai Constitution states that the EC can only strip anyone of their parliamentary status after their case has been referred to the Constitutional Court for a ruling.
Since Mr. Pita has not been officially confirmed as a Member of Parliament following the most recent elections, the EC must wait until Mr. Pita is confirmed before it can apply this provision.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ruangkrai stated that on May 24th, he would submit additional documents to the EC, including a list of iTV shareholders from 2006 and a diagram showing iTV's income from 2006 to last year, to support his report, hoping the EC could expedite the investigation and bring Mr. Pita's case to court.
Mr. Pita and the MFP party are in coalition talks with seven other political parties, hoping to form a coalition government after their victory in the May 14th election.
Source
Comment (0)