Former Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said today that he is ready to attend the hearing at the Constitutional Court next Wednesday, to defend himself over the allegation that he held shares in the now defunct iTV media outlet when he registered his candidacy in the May 14 general election.

The advisory chairman of the Move Forward party said he will check the final draft of his written statement today, which he will deliver before the hearing next Wednesday, adding that Pita is confident that he did not do anything wrong and will be cleared of the allegation.

A petition was lodged with the Election Commission by political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, claiming that Pita held 42,000 iTV shares at the time he registered, in violation of the Constitution, which bars a person who owns shares in a media company from running in an election.

Commenting on the Corrections Department’s new regulation, to allow convicts in good standing to be detained outside prison, Pita said that he does not think the regulation was intended specifically to benefit convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, because it was initially conceived about three years ago, before anyone knew that Thaksin would return to Thailand after his 15 years of living in exile abroad.

Meanwhile, Move Forward’s advisory chairman declined to comment on whether the Democrat party will be invited to join the coalition government, now the party has a new leadership, led by Chalermchai Srion.

Nevertheless, he insists that Move Forward remains the party with the most seats in the House and that it will perform its opposition role in the parliament for the people, adding that Move Forward aims to be a constructive opposition party, which does not just focus on trying to topple the government.

On speculation that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin may be replaced by Paetongtarn Shinawatra next year, Pita said that Srettha should be given more time to prove his worth, adding that adjustment of some policy directions would be more appropriate than replacing the prime minister.

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The opposition Move Forward party revealed its in-depth analysis today of the performance of the government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin during its first 100 days in office.

Speaking at a press conference, Pita Limjaroenrat, advisory chairman of the party, said that they did not grade the performance of the government, but merely conduced an analytical study of it.

The study focusses on five areas, the first being areas where the government appears to be quite successful, said Pita, as he cited the safe return to Thailand of 23 Thai hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza and the tackling of both formal and informal indebtedness.

The second area is where the government remains indecisive and keeps vacillating, such as the digital wallet scheme and salaries for government officials.

On the digital wallet scheme, Pita said that the government appears to lack a firm plan for how the scheme should proceed and keeps changing the plan, causing widespread confusion, particularly among investors.

He said that the government seems to lack a long-term plan on electricity charges and electric train fares, citing the 20-baht fare for the Purple and Red lines as an example of a short-term solution, without addressing the root cause of the expensive fares.

Concerning Thailand’s competitiveness, boosting tourism and inequality in Thai society, the former Move Forward party leader said that the prime minister appears not to have carefully thought out such policies and became upset when officials could not deliver the results as he had expected.

Another criticism is that the government did the opposite of what it had pledged in its manefesto, said Pita, as he cited the make-up of the constitution-drafting council and whether all the members should be elected, as well as the promised military reform.

For the coming year, he said he expects the government to have a clear strategic road map and plans to address pressing issues, such as drought, economic slowdown and government unity.