Thailand's parliament on Wednesday blocked the prime ministerial nomination of the winner of May's nationwide elections, Pita Limjaroenrat, CNN reported. This comes as a major blow to Pita Limjaroenrat's progressive opposition party after nearly a decade of military-backed rule.
Out of the 715 members of parliament present, 394 voted to block the second nomination, 312 voted for it, eight abstained and one, Pita himself, didn't cast the vote, according to the House Speaker. According to CNN, Pita was temporarily suspended as a lawmaker by the country's constitutional court after a complaint filed by the Election Commission against the Move Forward Party leader, accusing him of violating election laws for allegedly holding shares in a media company.
Pita has denied that he broke election rules and previously accused the Election Commission of rushing the case to court. The Move Forward Party had pledged deep structural reforms to how Thailand is run, proposing changes to the military, the economy, the decentralization of power and even reforms to the previously untouchable monarchy, according to CNN.
The elections in May, which saw a record turnout, delivered a powerful rebuke to the military-backed establishment that has ruled Thailand since 2014, when then-army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power in a coup.