Embattled Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said today (Tuesday) he is confident he will be able to clear himself with the Election Commission (EC) over the iTV shareholding, as relates to his electoral candidacy, and is ready to fight any bad faith attempt to stop him from becoming Thailand’s next prime minister.
He said that the political party registrar’s bid to investigate whether he breached Article 151 of the MP election law, by standing in the May 14th general election in the full knowledge that he was not qualified to do so, is not unexpected, citing the case of his predecessor, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the new defunct Future Forward, who was ordered by the Constitutional Court to stop functioning as an MP for holding shares in a media company.
Pita said that he was aware of the attempt to revive iTV as a media company before the emergence this week of the latest controversy on a TV news program, which uncovered a discrepancy between the written minutes of the iTV shareholder meeting on April 26th and a recording of a statement by the chair of the meeting.
He claimed that someone has supplied him with much more information about the controversy than was reported, adding that the party’s legal team is now handling the case.
In addition to the complaints filed against him by political activists, such as Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, Pita said he does not rule out the possibility that some MPs or senators may sign a petition asking the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court or the Criminal Court to rule on his qualification and parliamentary status, similar to the Thanathorn case.
Whatever the attempts to negate his quest for the prime minister’s post, the Move Forward party leader says he is confident that he has solid evidence and legal principle to prove his innocence.
“Article 151 will not be an obstacle to me becoming Thailand’s 30th prime minister,” said Pita.
Regarding the requirement to declare his assets at the end of his four-year term as an MP, he said that he is currently in the process of carefully preparing all the necessary documents for submission to the National Anti-Corruption Commission before June 18th, as the law requires.
