KHON KAEN: Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, has declared he will be the party's candidate for the post of prime minister in the next general election.
Mr Pita made the announcement at the first general assembly of the Move Forward Party on Saturday at the Khon Kaen International Convention and Exhibition Centre, attended by the party's executive committee members, MPs and party members.
At the meeting, Mr Pita and Chaitawat Tulathon, the party secretary-general, also made speeches outlining their vision for how the party can achieve its political goals.
Several candidates to run under the Move Forward Party banner in the next general election were introduced. They were Chatchawal Apirakmankhong and Voranan Huadsri, who would contest in Khon Kaen, Adisak Sombatkham, who would run in Maha Sarakham, and Oranut Polpinyo, who would contest in Chaiyaphum.
Mr Pita said the Move Forward Party chose Khon Kaen as its venue for the year's first general assembly because it wants to make the province a political gateway into the Northeast region.
The party's hopeful in Khon Kaen's Constituency 1 was Mr Voranan, a human rights lawyer, he said.
Mr Pita said he wanted to obtain first-hand information on problems in the Northeast, particularly over land and water management, in an attempt to gain a political foothold in the region.
Notable absences at the assembly were a number of party MPs who had declared they would part ways with the Move Forward Party in the next election: Karom Polpornklang, a party-list MP, Khwanlert Panichmat, a Chon Buri MP, Jirawat Aranyakanond, a Bangkok MP, Peeradet Khamsamut, a Chiang Rai MP, and Ekapop Pianwiset, another Chiang Rai MP.