Final showdown for Thailand’s Pita as parliament votes on PM

The leader of Thailand’s election-winning Move Forward Party was braced for what could be his final shot at becoming prime minister on Wednesday, as a parliament that denied him last week convened for its second vote on the premiership.
Thailand has been run by a caretaker administration since March and 65 days have passed since Move Forward’s stunning election triumph over parties backed by the royalist military after nine years of government controlled by generals.
The 42-year-old, U.S.-educated liberal Pita Limjaroenrat needs the backing of more than half of the bicameral parliament to be endorsed as Thailand’s next prime minister, but must overcome fierce resistance from a military at odds with his party’s anti-establishment ambitions.
Parliamentary rules written by the military after a 2014 coup and skewed in its favour ensured Pita’s defeat in the first round, when he was stopped by a Senate appointed by generals allied with conservatives and old money families that have long wielded influence over Thailand’s democracy.