DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Reformist candidate fails to win support from a conservative-leaning Senate that was appointed after a military coup in 2014.
Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the progressive party that won the most votes in Thailand’s general election, has failed in his initial bid to become the country’s next prime minister.
The 42-year-old businessman, who heads the Move Forward party, was unopposed in Thursday’s contest, but could not muster the required support from Thailand’s bicameral legislature, with a host of abstentions and votes against him.
Pita’s eight-party alliance controls 312 seats in the lower house, but to get the required 375 votes, he needed support from some of the 249 members of the conservative-leaning upper house, which was appointed by the military after a coup in 2014.
When voting concluded, Pita had won 323 votes, including 13…
