MOVE FORWARD leader Pita Limjaroenrat questioned in a Facebook post last night (Aug. 14) whether it is fair for the Constitutional Court to have ordered him to stop performing as an MP until it rules on a petition filed against him by the Election Commission for holding 00.0035% shares in non-operating ITV channel, TV Channel 7 said.
This came after the Election Commission’s investigation committee ruled yesterday that a petition to investigate and disquality Pita for holding the tiny fragment of the non-operating channel should be dismissed.
However the polling agency’s subcommittee has still to decide whether further investigation is required with Pita possibly being asked to testify while awaiting the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
“It is suspicious whether this is intentional political persecution. I have held these shares throughout my political career, and I have been an MP for four years, but a complaint only surfaced after I became a prime ministerial candidate with the case being filed just a few days before I was nominated.
“There is also a lot of evidence that there was an attempt to resurrect ITV as a media stock even though it had ceased media business for over 10 years,” he said.
Pita also asked whether the polling agency’s investigation committee had ruled on the petition to probe him over holding this minuscule amount of ITV shares before the agency filed the case at the Constitutional Court.
Even though the polling agency could say investigation and filing a case in court are two different processes, the investigation committee did find out that ITV had not been operating media business.
Therefore did the polling agency ignore the committee’s findings and also the criteria set by the Constitutional Court on income and source of income in proceeding to file the case, Pita questioned.
Additionally, 60 lawmakers faced cases on holding media shares in 2020 but none of them were suspended as an MP aside from Progressive Movement chairman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
“I therefore ask the society to consider whether the suspension of my duties is fair?” Pita wrote.
Thanathorn, the former Future Forward leader, had engaged in similar legal battles which finally resulted in the Constitutional Court’s verdict to ban him and the then-members of the progressive party’s executive board from politics for a 10-year time and dissolve the party which has practically resurrected as the Move Forward.
CAPTION:
Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat with Phongsathorn Sornphetnarin, or Yo, as he registered to run in Rayong constituency 3 by-election this morning, Aug. 15. All photos: Matichon
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