His progressive party may have won more votes than any other in Thailand’s election in May, sparking hopes of change for the country’s political system, but Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become the next Prime Minister was just rejected by an unelected senate in the Thai parliament’s first round of voting for its next leader. It’s a sharp blow to the pro-democracy movement in a country that has spent the last nine years ruled by a military-backed government.