By Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s election-winning Move Forward Party is no longer part of an eight-party coalition hoping to form the next government after a May general election, the leader of a party in the alliance said on Wednesday.
Southeast Asia’s second largest economy has been in political limbo since the poll, in which the progressive Move Forward emerged as the largest party, closely followed by the populist Pheu Thai party.
“Pheu Thai called us to tell us that the eight parties no longer have Move Forward,” Chaowarit Khajohnpongkirat, leader of the Palang Sakom Mai party, told Reuters.
A Move Forward spokesperson said the party would comment after its lawmakers met later on Wednesday.
Move Forward took the lead in forming the alliance after the May 14 election, and twice attempted to get its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, voted in as prime minister by parliament, only to be blocked by conservative opponents and a military-appointed upper house Senate.
(Additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarn, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel)
