By Thai Newsroom Reporters
RETIRING UNDERSECRETARY OF Interior Chatchai Promlert will not be welcome to the Palang Pracharath Party and might have to look for another one to join instead, sources said today (Sept. 23).
Though Chatchai, scheduled to retire as undersecretary of interior at the end of this month, may have been earlier speculated to join the Palang Pracharath Party and take the place of Thammanat Prompow as its secretary general, Palang Pracharath Party leader/Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would finally prefer Thammanat to Chatchai, according to the partisan sources who only spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nevertheless, Chatchai might manage to set up a party of his own or join any party other than Prawit’s camp with either Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha or Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda as leader of that party, they said.
Chatchai was earlier expected to organise support for Prayut as lame duck candidate for head of government in the next election.
But, according to the partisan sources, the Palang Pracharath Party will no longer endorse Prayut as its candidate for post-election premier as long as Prawit is at the helm of the ruling party. Prawit and Prayut have allegedly developed mutual conflict of interest involving the party’s secretary general who was ousted by the latter from his cabinet earlier this month.
Chatchai, Anupong and Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin plus eight Palang Pracharath MPs representing constituencies of three western provinces attended the premier’s visit to Petchaburi yesterday.
Meanwhile, 55 Palang Pracharath MPs, led by chief government whip Virat Ratanaset, Deputy Finance Minister Santi Prompat, Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakhamanusorn and Thammanat, accompanied Prawit on a separate tour to Ayutthaya on the same day.
The other two Palang Pracharath MPs representing the western constituencies of Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Petchaburi opted to accompany Prawit to Ayutthaya instead of Prayut to Petchaburi.
However, Prawit categorically dismissed criticism that Prayut and he himself were virtually engaging in yesterday’s tug of war to see which one may have mustered support from more MPs than the other, saying their fraternal relationship has been and will be an everlasting one.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Premier Prawit Wongsuwan seen together recently.
Home Page: Palang Pracharath Party secretary general Thammanat Prompow. . Both photos: Siam Rath
