Election Commission Rejects Three Petitions Against Pita But Opens Article 151 Probe

Thai Enquirer reports that the "the Election Commission decided to formally investigate Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for intentionally applying for office despite being aware that he is not qualified. If found guilty, Pita could face imprisonment and a voting ban."

• This comes as the Election Commission unanimously rejected three petitions accusing Pita of illegally holding media shares due to their being filed after the deadline. However, the Commission "has identified a specific detail from these three petitions that they believe warrants further investigation."
• Pita is accused of violating Article 151 of Thailand's election law, which stipulates that knowingly applying for public office while being ineligible is an offence that carries a prison sentence of 1 to 10 years and a 20-year ban on voting.
• The specially appointed investigative committee will now conduct a probe into the allegations against Pita. Note that in 2019 the EC invoked Article 151 to press criminal charges against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the dissolved Future Forward Party, which was later succeeded by Pita's Move Forward Party.