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STORY: The leader of Thailand’s election-winning Move Forward Party has been suspended from parliament and had his prime ministerial nomination denied.

In a dramatic sequence of events on Wednesday (July 19), Pita Limjaroenrat was first suspended as an MP by the constitutional court.

It was the latest twist in a two-decade battle for power between elected parties and Thailand's conservative military establishment.

Pita won an election in May on a reformist agenda, pledging to amend Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws.

His victory over military-backed parties was widely considered to be a clear public rejection of nine years of government controlled by generals.

The court said on Wednesday he was suspended over an allegation he violated election rules by holding shares in a media firm.

Pita denies that, arguing the company had not engaged in mass media operations for years.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this week, the 42-year-old warned he was unwilling to back down.

"So when people ask me how do you feel that you have failed? And I would respond back to them that I won, I formed and I got blocked. I didn't fail. I won the election, I formed the coalition and I got blocked by the appointed senates, let us be clear on that. So, if you think about it in this perspective, I'm honored to be nominated and I'm grateful for how far we have come together to this point. And, you know, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon and I have the stamina to run for a long, long time."

Despite his optimism, the U.S.-educated liberal leader now has an extremely difficult path to the top job.

Requiring him to overcome fierce resistance from a royalist military at odds with his party's anti-establishment ambitions.

Wednesday’s decision came just before Pita was due to contest a second parliamentary premiership vote, after losing the first one last week.

Lawmakers subsequently voided his nomination.

Although the suspension does not bar Pita from running for prime minister, it is not immediately clear whether his eight-party alliance would seek to re-nominate him.

A caretaker government has run Thailand since March.