The charismatic Pita had led pre-election opinion polls as Thailand's top choice for PM but faced a host of legal & legislative challenges that he maintains were orchestrated to keep him from power.
Pita has a mountain to climb and hit his first of a series of expected hurdles when political rivals challenged his re-nomination, arguing parliament had already declined to endorse him.
The poll body said it found merit in a complaint alleging Pita was unqualified to run for the election because of his ownership of shares in a media company in violation of electoral rules.
Islamabad-based think-tank PICSS's new report says Pakistan saw 'pronounced escalation' in violence last year, with 3,413 conflict-related deaths compared to 1,950 in previous year.
Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.
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