Thailand's MFP to back rival after PM vote defeat
The reformist party that won Thailand's recent election said on Friday it would back a rival candidate to become prime minister after its own leader was blocked by the military and pro-royalist establishment. The Move Forward Party (MFP), which rode to victory on a wave of support from young and urban voters frustrated by a decade of army-backed rule, said its priority was not to take the PM job but to restore civilian government. After MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat was knocked back in a leadership vote last week, the party said it would now support the nominee from its coalition partner Pheu Thai, which came second in May's election. "The most important thing is not that Pita will become PM, but the fact that Thailand would be able to become a democratic country," MFP secretary-general Chaitawat Tulathon said. "MFP will allow the second party, Pheu Thai, to become the main party of the eight coalition parties," Chaitawat said. "In the next parliamentary meeting, MFP will vote for PT's PM candidate, just like PT voted for MFP's PM candidate." Pheu Thai, seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political clan – whose members include two former prime ministers ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014 – will name its candidate for prime minister on Wednesday, the eve of parliament's next vote. To become prime minister, a candidate must be approved by a majority of both houses of parliament – the 500 elected MPs and the 250 senators appointed by the last junta. Pita managed 324 votes across the two houses in last week's ballot, with only 13 of the military-backed senators supporting him. Pheu Thai said on Friday it would consult other coalition parties on how to win over more support from the upper house. Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, one of Pheu Thai's three PM candidates, now looks to be in a strong position to take the job in the next vote, expected on Thursday. A successful entrepreneur liked by business leaders among the Thai elite, Srettha is seen as more palatable to the establishment than Pita. (AFP)