Thai opposition figure widens lead over prime minister in poll

A THAI opposition politician facing mounting challenges to his political survival widened his lead over Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in a new survey, underscoring divisions in the South-east Asian nation.

Pita Limjaroenrat of the opposition Move Forward Party ranked first with an approval rating of 42.75 per cent in a quarterly survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, up from 39.4 per cent in the last poll. 

Srettha’s rating fell to 17.75 per cent from 22.35 per cent in the survey published on Sunday (Mar 24). The institute, a graduate school in Bangkok, said the poll covered some 2,000 respondents from every region of the nation, and that it came with a “confidence level” of 97 per cent.

Challenges have been mounting against the upstart Move Forward Party since it won last year’s election but Pita was blocked from taking the country’s top political office. Lawmakers from the pro-military royalist establishment who opposed his progressive agenda – including proposals to reform the military and crack down on business monopolies – instead joined hands with the runner-up Pheu Thai Party to form a government and endorsed Srettha’s premiership.

Earlier this month, Thailand’s Election Commission asked the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Move Forward Party. That move came after the top court ruled in January that the opposition party and Pita had violated the charter by seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy with its campaign to loosen the royal defamation law.

If the party gets disbanded, its executive leaders including Pita, could be banned from politics for 10 years. Future Forward Party, Move Forward’s predecessor, was dissolved in 2020. BLOOMBERG