By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A BY-ELECTION FOR MPs in southern constituencies will likely feature unrelenting contests among three coalition partners in government, namely Palang Pracharath Party, Bhumjaithai Party and Democrat Party.
The by-election in Chumphon Constituency 1 and Songkhla Constituency 6 is tentatively scheduled by the Election Commission on January 16 for an MP in each constituency to replace Chumpol Julasai and Thaworn Senniam respectively, according to deputy government spokeswoman Traisuli Traisaranakul.
The cabinet today (Dec 14) approved a draft royal decree for the by-election which is to be held in 45 days’ time as of December 8 – the date on which the Constitutional Court deprived the ex-lawmakers of Democrat Party of their MP status, Traisuli said.
Chumpol and Thaworn, a former deputy transport minister, have lost their MP status since they were found guilty of unlawful involvement in 2014’s anti-vote street protests in Bangkok, which eventually prompted the ouster of an elected government under ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra in a coup orchestrated by then-army chief, now-premier Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The unrelenting challenges for two southern MP seats are largely speculated among candidates vying against one another under the tickets of Palang Pracharath Party, Bhumjaithai Party and Democrat Party, partisan sources said.
Contestants of all other parties will only be viewed as underdogs with slim chances of a victory in the southern by-election.
Palang Pracharath Party, the largest coalition partner, currently has 13 MPs representing southern constituencies, compared to Bhumjaithai Party’s six MPs and Democrat Party’s 20 MPs.
In the 2019 general election, Democrat Party won two out of three constituencies of Chumphon while Palang Pracharath Party won four out of eight constituencies of Songkhla followed by Democrat Party with three constituencies and Bhumjaithai Party with one.
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