Thailand’s winning candidate for PM blocked from power

Protests feared after Pita Limjaroenrat of Move Forward fails to get parliamentary backing required to take office

The leader of Thailand's pro-reform party, which won the most seats in May's election, has been blocked from taking power by a parliamentary vote that includes military-appointed senators, a move likely to provoke street protests.

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward, a progressive party that has a strong youth support base, won the most votes and most seats in May's election. But Thailand's election rules, rewritten after a military coup in 2014, required him to have majority support from parliament to become prime minister - which meant he needed to win the backing of some military-appointed senators.