Former Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said today that he is ready to attend the hearing at the Constitutional Court next Wednesday, to defend himself over the allegation that he held shares in the now defunct iTV media outlet when he registered his candidacy in the May 14 general election.
The advisory chairman of the Move Forward party said he will check the final draft of his written statement today, which he will deliver before the hearing next Wednesday, adding that Pita is confident that he did not do anything wrong and will be cleared of the allegation.
A petition was lodged with the Election Commission by political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, claiming that Pita held 42,000 iTV shares at the time he registered, in violation of the Constitution, which bars a person who owns shares in a media company from running in an election.
Commenting on the Corrections Department’s new regulation, to allow convicts in good standing to be detained outside prison, Pita said that he does not think the regulation was intended specifically to benefit convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, because it was initially conceived about three years ago, before anyone knew that Thaksin would return to Thailand after his 15 years of living in exile abroad.
Meanwhile, Move Forward’s advisory chairman declined to comment on whether the Democrat party will be invited to join the coalition government, now the party has a new leadership, led by Chalermchai Srion.
Nevertheless, he insists that Move Forward remains the party with the most seats in the House and that it will perform its opposition role in the parliament for the people, adding that Move Forward aims to be a constructive opposition party, which does not just focus on trying to topple the government.
On speculation that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin may be replaced by Paetongtarn Shinawatra next year, Pita said that Srettha should be given more time to prove his worth, adding that adjustment of some policy directions would be more appropriate than replacing the prime minister.
