The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed on technical grounds petitions filed against Pita Limjaroenrat, leader and prime ministerial candidate of the Move Forward Party, regarding his qualification to contest the May 14 election. But the agency is going ahead with its inquiry to determine if Pita sought to run despite knowing he was not qualified.

 

Move Forward won the election in a shock victory, securing 151 MP seats.

 

Some analysts say the latest EC move holds potentially worse legal consequences for Pita and Move Forward than the initial complaints filed by political activist and serial petitioner Ruangkrai Leekitwattana. It also indicates that the EC believes there is merit in the earlier complaints, they add.

 

Ruangkrai had asked the EC to investigate if Pita’s holding of 42,000 shares in the media company iTV Plc was against the law, as Article 98 of the Constitution bars any election candidate running for an MP seat from “being the owner of, or a shareholder in any newspaper or mass media business”.

 

An independent TV channel, iTV was set up in 1995 and went off the air 12 years later in March 2007 after its concession was terminated by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat Office.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/the-legal-pitfalls-on-pitas-path-to-the-premiership/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2023-06-13

 

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4 hours ago, webfact said:

An independent TV channel, iTV was set up in 1995 and went off the air 12 years later in March 2007 after its concession was terminated by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat Office.

Then I guess the term "media" is open to speculation.