Pita fails in bid to be Thai PM after losing Parliament vote

Pita Limjaroenrat (centre) speaks inside the parliament chamber before the vote to decide the country's next prime minister in Bangkok on July 13. - AFP

BANGKOK (Reuters): Thailand's Pita Limjaroenrat failed on Thursday (July 13) in his initial bid to become Thailand's next prime minister, after he was thwarted in a high-stakes parliamentary vote that included a host of no-shows and nearly 200 abstentions.

The leader of election winners Move Forward was unopposed in the contest but struggled to muster the required support of more than half of 749-member the bicameral parliament, despite the backing of his eight-party alliance.