Unfazed by political blows, Pita Limjaroenrat resolves to come back to lead ‘alternative Thailand’

BANGKOK (AP) — Eight months ago, Pita Limjaroenrat shook up Thai politics by leading his progressive party to a stunning first-place finish in the 2023 general election, putting him in a good position to be named the country’s next prime minister.

But he had a change of fortune. Now Pita’s fighting an uphill battle just to retain his seat in Parliament, from which he has already been suspended.

He was denied the prime minister’s job when he failed to get the necessary approval from the Senate, whose members were appointed by the military and given power to choose a prime minister according to the constitution that was adopted in 2017 under a military government. Pita’s Move Forward party now heads the opposition. He is no longer party chief, and later in January the Constitutional Court will rule whether he violated election regulations and should be expelled from the lawmaking body.

While Pita is far from despairing over the turn of events, he acknowledged in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that his post-election life has been like “riding a roller coaster.”

The 43-year-old Harvard-educated businessman described his setbacks as just a detour, and is sticking to his goal of reforming Thailand. He vows to continue to speak on behalf of people across the country.

“Even if I don’t have the authority to lead, I felt like I still have the legitimacy to lead,” he said, adding that he owes 14 million people — the number of voters who cast their ballots for his party — for the trust they placed in him.

Pita said his proudest achievement is making people believe in a new future for Thailand, “to be able to look people in the eye and to prove to them that there are ways the country can be changed.” He takes as an example his party and himself, political rookies whose three-year-old party topped the polls in their first general election.

Despite the legal jeopardy he is in, with his party also facing battles in the courts, Pita said he’s already looking forward to the next election.

“It might be two, three years, depending on the government’s performance. Then I’ll come back and become the prime minister or candidate for the next election, because the goal or the endgame for me is to show the world that (an) alternative Thailand is possible, and to be the undisputed leader in the democratic force in the region.”

He said he has learned his lesson from watching former ally and second-place election finisher Pheu Thai party — Move Forward’s main partner in its hoped-for ruling coalition — instead break away and carry off the prize of forming a new government.

“I forgive, but I won’t forget,” Pita said, disavowing any antagonism toward Pheu Thai. “I’ll make sure that if it happens to me the second time, then I know how to adapt myself … to future negotiations.”

Recent polls suggest that the popularity of Pita and his party remain strong among Thai voters. A poll carried out in December by the National Institute of Development Administration found that nearly 40% of its respondents want Pita to be a prime minister, and 44% give their support to Move Forward. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and the Pheu Thai party registered 22% and 24% approval ratings.

Pita’s more immediate challenge comes on Jan. 24, when the Constitutional Court will decide if he violated election regulations due to his ownership in shares of ITV, the defunct operator of an independent television station. He could be disqualified from his seat in Parliament if the court rules against him.

Candidates are prohibited from owning shares in any media company at the time of an election. Pita says the number of shares was insignificant, and that he held them only as executor of his late father’s estate. ITV stopped broadcasting in 2007.

Pita’s supporters have criticized the case as a dirty trick that has long been used by the ruling establishment, by utilizing courts and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue rulings to hamper or oust political opponents.

Pita said he’s confident he’ll win — but even if he loses, his political journey will go on.

He said he is hopeful that change will inevitably come, but it will be a struggle. The conservative forces had held power for 10 years, beginning with an army coup in 2014, and they are not going to give it up without fighting back, he pointed out.

Progressives can say that time is on their side, but everything else is on the side of the traditional establishment, said Pita.

“We’ve got to give it all we’ve got, and we can be hopeful that finally the progressive movement will inevitably win here in Thailand, but you can never be careless. There’s always mechanisms, invisible hands that resist change,” he said.

___

Associated Press video journalist Jerry Harmer contributed to this report.