By Thai Newsroom Reporters
FORMER MOVE FORWARD leader Pita Limjaroenrat said today (Jan.25) his successor Chaithawat Tulathon need not be replaced by him anytime soon and that he himself is not looking for the opportunity to return as leader of the progressive party, either.
After a six-month suspension by court from doing his MP duty, Pita who was finally given his MP status yesterday said he considered it unnecessary for him to be named leader of the 151-MPs Move Forward again at the party’s extraordinary caucus scheduled for the upcoming April.
Given the Constitutional Court’s ruling which has found him not guilty of holding a tiny percentage of shares in the non-operating ITV channel, Pita has come back as the Move Forward lawmaker who had been unsuccessfully named prime minister following last year’s general election.
The former Move Forward leader said it was a pity he had not been named head of a post-election government for a second time following the first one which had seen yea votes in his support fall short of half the combined 750 lawmakers.
Nevertheless, Pita said Chaithawat has evidently performed his partisan leadership roles very well and need not be replaced by him. The current Move Forward leader concurrently performs as opposition leader at parliament.
Pita said whether he might possibly be given back the top partisan leadership in the next few months will certainly depend on the decision of a majority of partisan members attending April’s extraordinary caucus.
Meanwhile, Pita said he will continue to closely follow the Pheu Thai-led government’s major economic policies, especially those pertaining to the much-heralded, 10,000-baht digital wallet handout campaign, the planned land bridge construction in the southern region and “soft power” promotions pushed by Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of the de facto party boss-cum-convict at large Thaksin Shinawatra.
He said he may have agreed in principle to some of the government’s economic development plans and schemes which are yet to be carried out in cost-effective, transparent fashion.
CAPTION:
Former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat back at the House of Representatives today, Jan. 25, 2024. Photos: Naewna
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