Thailand's Pita Limjaroenrat resigned on Friday as leader of the progressive Move Forward party, months after delivering a stunning electoral victory on an anti-establishment reform agenda that threatened to upend the political status quo.
BANGKOK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat resigned on Friday as leader of the progressive Move Forward party, months after delivering a stunning electoral victory on an anti-establishment reform agenda that threatened to upend the political status quo.
Riding on a wave of youth and urban support, Move Forward was the huge surprise of the May election, thrashing parties backed by the powerful military and royalist establishment, before it was blocked by conservative lawmakers from forming a government.
Move Forward now represents the bulk of the parliamentary opposition but will retain significant political clout having won the majority of seats in and around the capital Bangkok and taken over key urban centres and some conservative strongholds.
The Harvard-educated Pita, 43, was twice denied by parliament in his efforts to become prime minister as military-appointed senators closed ranks to stop Move Forward, some over its controversial plans to amend a law that insulates the monarchy from criticism.
The charismatic Pita had led pre-election opinion polls as Thailand’s top choice for prime minister but faced a host of legal and legislative challenges that he maintains were orchestrated to keep him from power.
He is currently suspended from parliament due to a court case concerning his eligibility to run for office, stemming from shares he held in a media company, which is against election rules.
The original article contains 301 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 26%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
BANGKOK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat resigned on Friday as leader of the progressive Move Forward party, months after delivering a stunning electoral victory on an anti-establishment reform agenda that threatened to upend the political status quo.
Riding on a wave of youth and urban support, Move Forward was the huge surprise of the May election, thrashing parties backed by the powerful military and royalist establishment, before it was blocked by conservative lawmakers from forming a government.
Move Forward now represents the bulk of the parliamentary opposition but will retain significant political clout having won the majority of seats in and around the capital Bangkok and taken over key urban centres and some conservative strongholds.
The Harvard-educated Pita, 43, was twice denied by parliament in his efforts to become prime minister as military-appointed senators closed ranks to stop Move Forward, some over its controversial plans to amend a law that insulates the monarchy from criticism.
The charismatic Pita had led pre-election opinion polls as Thailand’s top choice for prime minister but faced a host of legal and legislative challenges that he maintains were orchestrated to keep him from power.
He is currently suspended from parliament due to a court case concerning his eligibility to run for office, stemming from shares he held in a media company, which is against election rules.
The original article contains 301 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 26%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!