Thailand’s parliament on Thursday rejected an effort by progressive Pita Limjaroenrat to become prime minister, a development that will keep the country in political limbo and potentially add pressure on the economy.

Thursday’s vote will distress supporters of Pita, leader of the Move Forward party that promised progressive reforms on multiple fronts. The 42-year-old Pita was proposed by eight coalition parties, and was the sole candidate nominated on Thursday, but he only secured 324 votes from the 750 parliamentary seats, a combination of the upper and lower houses, 52 short of the 376 votes required for election under the country’s 2017 constitution.

The lower house, with 500 seats, is elected while the 250 members of the senate, the upper house, were appointed by General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who rose to power via a military coup in 2014.

Prior to Thursday’s vote, the speaker of parliament said a second round of voting, if needed, could be held on July 19. It was not immediately clear if that will be the date and whether Move Forward might put up a candidate other than Pita.

Pita’s failure to win parliamentary approval despite Move Forward’s triumph in the May 14 general election could stir public discontent and trigger street protests by his supporters. Move Forward is highly popular among young Thais craving for change after nine years of rule under Prayuth.

It’s possible that Thailand could now go through a prolonged period without a prime minister to succeed Prayuth, who was soundly rejected by Thais in the May elections that Move Forward surprisingly won. Prayudh said on Wednesday he was quitting politics, but he will remain caretaker prime minister until parliament approves a new leader.

In the 11^th hour, hurdles were put up to the election of Pita, who is opposed by conservatives. The Election Commission Wednesday filed a case to the Constitutional Court questioning the eligibility of Pita to be a member of parliament, maintaining that his ownership in a media company breached election regulations.

Separately, the Constitutional Court Wednesday accepted for consideration a complaint against Pita and Move Forward party that alleges their proposal to amend Thailand’s lese majeste law was equivalent to overthrowing the democratic government with the king as head of the state.

Article 112 of criminal code essentially prohibits royal insults and violators could be punished with up to 15 years of jail time. For decades, this controversial and vague legislation has been criticized as a tool to crush political opponents and anti-establishment individuals.

Move Forward won the most seats in the May national election at 151, followed by 141 of Pheu Thai, a party linked with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is now living in self-exile. The two parties together with six other alliance parties sealed 312 votes out of 500-seat lower house of representatives.

Under the Thai constitution, the prime minister’s selection also takes into account the voting of the 250-seat Senate, a body appointed by the military establishment led by General Prayuth.

Upon Pita’s futile attempt to secure the top job, the second biggest winner Pheu Thai party may collaborate with other parties under a new formula to propose a new candidate. It remains fluid on who the new candidate would be as it hinges largely on which parties Pheu Thai chooses to work with.

The party’s own PM candidates prior to the May election includes Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, property tycoon Srettha Thavisin and former Attorney General Chaikasem Nitisiri.

Should Pheu Thai team up with parties in the current government’s coalition camp, Deputy Prime Minister and Palang Pracharat Party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan as well as Public Health Minister from the Bhumjai Thai Party Anutin Charnvirakul cannot be ruled out.

The Thai stock market ended Thursday trading before the votes were counted. The benchmark SET Index gained 0.2% for the day, but is still down 11% this year on persistent outflows and other economic factors as well as worries over political uncertainties.

“Prolonged political ambiguity certainly is negative for short-term sentiment but this has been somewhat anticipated and priced in,” Rakpong Chaisuparakul, strategist at KGI Securities (Thailand), said after it was clear Pita didn’t succeed. “Once the PM nomination and formation of a new government becomes clearer, we could then see the market recover but any immediate upside tends to be limited.”

In the first half of this year, the Thai economy was driven mainly by tourism and private consumption following the country’s reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bank of Thailand projects slight improvement in economic growth at 3.6% in 2023 and 3.8% in 2024, from 2.2% in 2022.