Thailand’s opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) has named a new leader after Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the party to a stunning election victory in May, was thwarted in his efforts to become premier.
Chaithawat Tulathon, a former political magazine editor, will now head MFP, the party said on Saturday.
The newly elected party leader studied environmental engineering at university and has been involved in Thailand’s progressive political movement for more than five years, co-founding MFP’s predecessor party.
MFP won the most seats in parliament at this year’s election on a wave of youth and urban support over its anti-establishment policies. The party will now lead the opposition after conservative lawmakers and an unelected senate blocked its attempts to form a government.
Pita stepped down as party leader earlier this month amid a host of legal and legislative challenges that many see as part of a pattern by the pro-military and royalist establishment to diminish a new generation of leaders.
In July, he was suspended from parliament over allegations he owned shares in a media company, making him unfit for office. Pita denies this.
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