Thai Parliament prevents leader of party that won election from being renominated for prime minister

By GRANT PECK and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament has voted against allowing the leader of the progressive party that finished first in May’s general election a second chance to be confirmed as prime minister. Pita Limjaroenrat had assembled a coalition of parties holding a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. But his nomination for prime minister was defeated in a joint vote of the House and Senate last week, with conservative military-appointed senators mostly refusing their support over ideological differences. A joint session debated Wednesday whether Pita could be nominated for a second time. A motion to prevent him from running again was passed by a vote of 395 to 312, with eight abstentions. The meeting of Parliament was then adjourned.