Chaithawat says ready to hand over Move Forward reins to Pita
Move Forward Party leader Chaithawat Tulathon said on Wednesday that he was ready to hand over the party's leadership to Pita Limjaroenrat, which would make him the opposition leader as well.
Chaithawat said Move Forward would hold a party caucus late April and he would be willing to step down for a new party leader and executive board to be elected.
Chaithawat was speaking to reporters after the Constitutional Court judges voted 8:1 to reinstate Pita as an MP and dismissed the Election Commission’s request to disqualify him on charges he held shares in a media firm. The court ruled that iTV was not a media firm when Pita applied to run in the general election last year.
Asked whether he would be willing to hand over the post of opposition leader to Pita, Chaithawat replied: “No problem. I’m not clinging to any post. I can be anywhere.”
Chaithawat said he believed that the court’s ruling would take immediate effect but he would have to check with the House speaker whether the speaker needed to be formally informed by a written order from the court before Pita could enter the House to work.
He said Move Forward had made preparations for Pita to return to work inside Parliament.
Chaithawat said Pita was scheduled to announce the annual plan of Move Forward on Thursday or Friday. If he was allowed to return to work in Parliament, the announcement would be made in the Parliament compound, Chaithawat added.
On the second case against Pita and the Move Forward, Chaithawat said he and other party members were not worried at all.
The Constitutional Court is scheduled to read its verdict in the second case on January 31. Pita and the Move Forward have been accused of seeking to topple the Constitutional Monarchy system through their campaigns for amendments to Article 112 of the Criminal Code, which is known as the lese majeste law.
