National—
On January 24th, 2024, Thai national media reported that the Thai Constitutional Court scheduled a hearing to announce a verdict on the case of Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat, the former leader of the Move Forward Party and prime ministerial candidate, on holding 42,000 shares in media firm ITV plc.
The complaint alleged that Pita was involved in media businesses when he campaigned to be a MP candidate, which violated the Thai Constitution, Section 101 (6) and Section 98 (3). As a result, the court ordered a hearing on the matter and suspended Pita from MP duty from July 19th, 2023 until the Thai Constitutional Court reached a verdict.
In response to the allegations, Pita submitted evidence along with witness testimonies. The Constitutional Court completed its investigation and scheduled a verdict hearing on January 24 at 2:00 PM.
The Thai Constitutional Court, with a majority vote, delivered the verdict that Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat can continue as a member of the House of Representatives and that the holding of the shares of the ITV company, which has been defunct since 2007 and not running active media, was not a violation.
This means Pita is likely to return to working as an MP at Parliament immediately.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.