By Thai Newsroom Reporters
DOZENS OF SOUTHERN MP seats will almost certainly be up for grabs in the next general election by any major parties other than the divided Ruam Thai Sang Chart and Democrat both of who are forecast to retain thin slices of popularity and preference among constituents throughout the 14-province region, according to partisan sources.
Gearing up for electoral campaigns with odds of winning large chunks of the total 60 southern constituencies in the next race to parliament are the Bhumjaithai, core of the current coalition government under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, followed by the Palang Pracharath led by Prawit Wongsuwan and the Klatham under de facto party boss Thammanat Prompao whilst the disintegrating Ruam Thai Sang Chart and Democrat will likely have slim chances of maintaining their current MP seats, let alone winning new ones.
Despite the fact that the Ruam Thai Sang Chart and Democrats are currently taking command of 13 and 17 out of the total 60 MPs representing all the southern constituencies respectively, many, if not most, of those MP seats will likely be taken over by Newin’s, Prawit’s and Thammanat’s ultra-conservative camps all of which are part of the current coalition government and appear relatively stable, readied and attractive in the eye of most southern constituents, the partisan sources said.
Given party-hopping sprees and other volatile political phenomena to emerge from now until the ending part of this year, the ultra-conservative Ruam Thai Sang Chart and Old School-conservative Democrat would be virtually busy picking up the pieces, probably oblivious to the uphill tasks of keeping themselves from being outvoted by rival camps with those southern MP seats at stake.
Nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether the Ruam Thai Sang Chart previously influenced by former de facto party boss/former coup leader-turned-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will continue to send candidates vying under their tickets in the next election, given the likelihood of many of the total 36 Ruam Thai Sang Chart MPs and others among the party’s rank and file are reportedly inclined to depart for the likes of the Bhumjaithai, Palang Pracharath, Klatham and the newly-formed New Opportunity to which a number of Pheu Thai and Ruam Thai Sang Chart MPs, among others, are expected to skip over in foreseeable future.
The Ruam Thai Sang Chart were ostensibly split into three factions including one under party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, one led by party secretary-general Akanat Prompan and one headed by Suchart Chomklin, the latter two of whom are anticipated to be given ministerial seats in cabinet under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, practically turning the Pirapan faction into an awkward thorn in the side.
Some of the southern Democrat MPs are more or less anticipated to defect to other camps in effort to seek re-election whilst others would probably be defeated running under the country’s oldest party’s banners in the next race to parliament expected as soon as the upcoming March after the prime minister who concurrently acts as Bhumjaithai leader probably dissolves the House of Representatives in January.
A trio of Ruam Thai Sang Chart MPs representing constituencies of Chumporn are largely speculated to seek re-election under the Bhumjaithai banners in the next race to parliament. In addition, four of the southern Democrat MPs who broke ranks with their partisan colleagues to vote Anutin for prime minister will likely opt to switch parties in order to retain their current constituencies of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Pattalung and Songkhla.
Former Democrat MP Alongkorn Polabut admitted that the Democrat had undoubtedly reeled off from their established ideologies and unduly fought against the “Thaksinism” inside and outside of parliament since the last couple of decades during which their popularity among partisan members and constituents nationwide had exponentially declined.
Alongkorn admitted he had been dumbfounded by the event in which his former partisan colleagues had finally joined the Pheu Thai-led government manipulated by the de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra despite the last couple of decades of their unrelenting, mutual hostilities.
In the meantime, he said, the Democrats had evidently taken a twist in political landscape by turning to support and join a military-installed government headed by the former coup leader-turned-prime minister Prayut, rendering the sharp decline in their trending vibes among the constituents to the extent that they were given less than one million votes in party-list mode with the number of their MP seats alarmingly nosediving from nearly 100 to only 25 in the 2023 election, compared to as many as 11 million votes which they had secured several years earlier.
He commented that former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who called it quits as Democrat leader and MP in protest of his party jumping onto the bandwagon of a Palang Pracharath-led government under the ex-coup leader’s premiership following the 2019 election could not do much to help restore and strengthen the staggering party as a whole without plugging on their failures to adhere to the pro-democracy, anti-coup ideologies even if he was voted party leader again to replace Chalermchai Sri-on who has recently resigned.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page: Ruam Thai Sang Chart MPs Supol Julsai, Chumphon Julsai and Wichai Sudsawat applying for Bhumjaithai Party membership and welcomed by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Photos: Naewna
First insert: Ruam Thai Sang Chart logo and party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga plus party secretary-general Akanat Prompan . Photo: Amarin TV
Second insert: Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Photo: Thai Rath
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