May 15, 2023
BANGKOK – “Dear fellow citizens, today I, Pita Limjaroenrat, am ‘clear’ and ‘ready’ to be the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand,” the Harvard-educated Pita, 42, announced on Twitter at 2am on Monday.
“We share the same dreams and hopes, and we believe that the Thailand we love can be better. Change is possible if we start doing it from today… Our dreams and hopes are ‘simple and straightforward’.
“And whether you agree or disagree with me, I will be your prime minister. Whether you voted for me or not, I will serve you.”
The unofficial vote count as of 10am on Monday (99% completed) showed that Move Forward had won 112 out of 400 constituency MP seats and 14.1 million votes for party-list MPs, narrowly beating Pheu Thai which also had 112 constituency seats but only 10.8 million party-list votes.
Bhumjaithai Party was in third place with 68 constituency MPs and Palang Pracharath was fourth with 39 constituency MPs.
Third place in party-list contest was PM Prayut’s United Thai Nation Party with 4.67 million votes, followed by the Bhumjaithai Party with 1.12 million votes.
Pita said Move Forward will hold an official press conference at noon today, adding that he would head to Democracy Monument in Bangkok to thank voters for their support at 5.30pm.