The prime ministerial candidacy of Pita Limjaroenrat, chief adviser to the Move Forward Party, will remain intact even though he is facing a jail sentence, according to a spokesman for the main opposition party.
Parit Wacharasindhu was responding on Tuesday to a comment by a well-known constitutional scholar and law professor that Mr Pita had now lost his chance to become prime minister for good.
The Pathumwan District Court on Monday sentenced Mr Pita and seven others to four months in jail, suspended for two years for staging a brief flash-mob protest in December 2019. They are appealing their convictions and sentences.
Mr Parit, also a Move Forward list-MP, acknowledged Section 160(7) of the constitution which concerned Mr Pita.
The section stipulates that a minister must not be a person sentenced by a judgement to imprisonment, irrespective of the finality of the case or suspension of the punishment, unless it was an offence committed through negligence, a petty offence, or defamation.
Mr Parit said that if Mr Pita proves his innocence during the appeal process, his political rights will remain intact.
The appeal, he said, would question if the protest really took place within the restricted 150-metre radius of the Sa Pathum Palace. As well, the appeal would question if the rally leaders deserved a four-month-long prison term.
Section 160(7) of the constitution was not written to take retroactive effect on a convict, said Mr Parit. In addition, the section did not take away a convict’s political rights for life. If Mr Pita serves his punishment, his rights to be a minister or prime minister would be restored, the spokesman said.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the disbanded Future Forward Party and head of the Progressive Movement, declined to comment on the case on Tuesday. He advised reporters to seek a comment from Mr Pita.
Mr Pita is former leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party, the reincarnation of Future Forward. He failed to gather enough votes to become prime minister in the parliament on July 13 last year.
The demonstration in which he, Mr Thanathorn and six others took part on Dec 14, 2019 was the largest protest since the 2014 military coup. It followed the Election Commission’s decision to seek the disbandment of the Future Forward Party for illegally accepting a large loan from Mr Thanathorn.
The court subsequently dissolved the party and banned Mr Thanathorn and other members of the executive from holding political office.
Move Forward is also facing dissolution following a Constitutional Court ruling last week that the party’s proposal to amend the lese-majeste law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Petitioners known for their antipathy towards the party have rushed to file paperwork with the Election Commission and the National Anti Corruption Commission to seek the dissolution of the party. They also want lifetime bans for the 44 Move Forward MPs, including Mr Pita, who proposed a draft bill to amend the lese-majeste law in 2021.
Move Forward spokesman Parit Wacharasindhu says that if former party leader Pita Limjaroenrat proves his innocence during the appeal process, his political rights will remain intact.