Pita Limjaroenrat, whose bid to become Thailand’s prime minister was thwarted by the royalist conservative establishment, resigned as leader of the Move Forward Party to pave the way for a new chief to become the opposition leader in Parliament. 

Pita said he was stepping down as he couldn’t take up the opposition leader’s job because of his suspension as a lawmaker. He was among the 151 Move Forward lawmakers elected to the 500-member House of Representatives in the May general election.

“Regardless of my status, I’m not going anywhere,” Pita he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday (Sep 15).  “I’ll still be working with Move Forward Party and the people to the best of my strength and abilities to drive the change agendas that we want together.” 

Pita, who turned 43 last week, was suspended as a lawmaker nearly two months ago, pending a Constitutional Court verdict on a case brought on by the Election Commission that alleged the Harvard-educated politician had breached election rules by holding media shares. 

Move Forward also faces a dissolution threat after the same court decided to hear a case alleging that the party sought to overthrow the monarchy with its vow to amend the country’s royal defamation law. BLOOMBERG