An activist has been charged with royal defamation over a speech given during a protest on 14 July at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), which took place following attempts to disqualify Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and block his bid to become the next Prime Minister.

The Thammasat University Student Union (TUSU) organized a protest on Wednesday (26 July) at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus against attempts by the Senate and the Constitutional Court to block Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming Prime Minister despite his party winning the election.

While protests continue to spring up across the country, overseas Thai communities in at least four countries have also held demonstrations over the weekend to demand that the Senate and the Constitutional Court respect the result of the election.

As government formation remains in deadlock, protests have been taking place across the country against attempts to block the Move Forward Party from leading a government and demanding the resignation of the Senate. Activists also demand that the Pheu Thai Party, now tasked with forming a government, not bring into the coalition any parties that supported leaders of the 2014 coup.

After Pita Limjaroenrat failed in his first bid to become Thailand’s next prime minister with 324 votes from both houses combined, of which only 13 were from the senate, a public gathering under the slogan ‘Respect My Vote’ called for the senators to respect the people’s consensus.

A protest caravan visited the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Police on Sunday (16 July) to demand that military and police commanders appointed as senators resign from the Senate.

Attempts to disqualify Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and block his bid to become the next Prime Minister have sparked a wave of protests during the past week in several provinces calling for the Senate and the House of Representative to approve his nomination as Prime Minister, as his party won the most seats in the last general election.