BANGKOK — A surrogate of the disbanded Future Forward Party said Friday he will take up many key policies pursued by his predecessor.
Pita Limchaoroenrut, the 38-year-old MP who’s been anointed as the leader of the new party, said his faction will continue to campaign on progressive platforms, such as abolishing the conscription, ending corporations’ monopoly on alcohol, and reforming labor laws.
The businessman-turned-politician also said he will make sure the new party, which has yet to unveil its official name, will not suffer the same fate as the Future Forward.
“We have to be more prudent. We haven’t discussed the specifics yet. We have to make sure the new party is more careful,” Pita said in an interview.
Pita spoke two weeks after the party he belonged to, the Future Forward, was dissolved by a court who ruled it took illegal donations from its founder, billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. The verdict also banned Thanathorn and its executives from politics for 10 years.
Pita was quickly named as Thanathorn’s successor, the new helmsman who will gather the rest of Future Forward MPs, bring them to a new party, and continue to oppose the government in the Parliament.
In a clear attempt to steer away from the Future Forward’s demise, Pita said his party will rely more on small individual donations instead of large sums from big corporations.
“I made it clear that no one is going to give us a loan now,” Pita said. “Small donations doesn’t mean we can’t do our work.”
He also said the new party is committed to the system of constitutional monarchy, dismissing the allegations that the Future Forward and its allies harbored anti-monarchist agendas.
“People will believe in what they will believe,” Pita said.
