By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE BHUMJAITHAI, core of the current coalition government, are anticipated to overwhelmingly defeat the Pheu Thai, now part of the opposition bloc, in a by-election for MP of Kanchanaburi on the upcoming Sunday.
Bhumjaithai candidate Wisuda Wichiansilp is largely expected to score an easy victory over Pheu Thai contender Chinwat Maendej in Sunday’s by-election in Constituency 4 of the western province, given the circumstances under which the Bhumjaithai contestant is a daughter of former Pheu Thai MP Sakda Wichiansilp who had earlier represented the same electoral districts before he resigned as elected lawmaker and then was named deputy interior minister.
The anticipated triumph of the Bhumjaithai under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob over the Pheu Thai under de facto party boss-turned-inmate Thaksin Shinawatra, in Sunday’s by-election of Kanchanaburi is speculated to showcase a repetition of a phenomenon in last month’s by-election of Sisaket where the Bhumjaithai contestant had largely defeated the Pheu Thai contender.
The disreputable, erroneous handling of Thai-Cambodian conflict by Thaksin’s daughter/court-deposed prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has more or less generated sort of anti-Pheu Thai sentiment among many constituents in Kanchanaburi’s remote districts, however geographically far from the lower-northeastern border where armed clashes had occurred, according to former National Security Council chief Paradorn Patanathabutr.
Meanwhile, Sompong Amornvivat confirmed today (Oct 17.) he has resigned with immediate effect as Pheu Thai MP in the face of sustained intra-partisan conflict pertaining to electoral candidacy.
But the veteran lawmaker categorically dismissed criticism that he could possibly be “bought out” by a rival camp to contest the next general election expected as soon as in the upcoming February.
No by-election in Sompong’s home province of Chiang Mai will take place to find his replacement due to his former status as a party-listed MP and not a constituency-based lawmaker for whom a mini-race to parliament would otherwise be held.
Sompong used to be a leader of Thaksin’s party, albeit only in name, and assumed varied portfolios in previous cabinets over the last several decades.
However, it remains to be seen whether his son/former deputy finance minister Julapan Amornvivat, might probably follow suit by calling it quits as a constituency-based MP of Chiang Mai under the Pheu Thai banners.
In what was seen as a retrospective complaint, Sompong aired his earlier-pent-up dissent to the selections of partisan contestants running for MPs in varied northern constituencies, especially those in Chiang Mai where the People’s swept eight out of a total 10 MP seats, leaving only two to Thaksin’s camp and one to the Palang Pracharath in the 2023 election.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page – Bhumajaithai candidate Wisuda Wichiansilp and Pheu Thai candidate Chinwat Maendej . Photos – Thai Rath
Insert – Veteran politician Sompong Amornvivat. Photo – Amarin TV
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