By Thai Newsroom Reporters
FORMER PRIME minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has today (Oct. 18) returned as an unrivalled Democrat leader – the top position in the Old School conservative party which he had left behind over the last six years.
In an extraordinary party caucus, Abhisit was unrivalled in the naming of him as leader of the country’s oldest party in place of Chalermchai Sri-on who has earlier resigned whilst Chaiwut Bannawat was named Democrat secretary-general in lieu of Democrat MP Dej-it Khaotong.
The return of Abhisit who used to be Democrat leader during 2005 and 2019 was largely speculated to restore confidence and hype of the party to some extent whilst a general election is expected as soon as in the upcoming February or March.
Following the 2019 election, the then-Democrat secretary-general Chalermchai had been more or less blamed for managing a partisan about-face by joining a coalition led by the military-installed Palang Pracharath and endorsing former army chief-turned-coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha as head of government who retained his power for a nine-year period from the 2014 coup until the 2023 election.
The twisted phenomenon prompted Abhisit to stage a lone protest by resigning as Democrat leader and MP, leaving the divided party reeling with an exponentially ebbing popularity.
There are currently 25 Democrat MPs, three of whom are party-listed lawmakers/former Democrat leaders namely Chuan Leekpai, Jurin Laksanavisit and Banyat Bantattan who had usually abstained from voting on significant legislations and motions lodged by previous governments of which the Democrat had been coalition partners whilst their partisan colleagues headed by the former Democrat secretary-general Dej-it had cast yea votes.
Most of the constituency-based Democrat MPs, now part of the opposition bloc, currently represent southern constituencies where the likes of the Bhumjaithai, core of the current coalition government, and the Klatham, one of the coalition partners, among others, are largely speculated to grab a significant number of MP seats in the upcoming election.
CAPTION:
Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, above, and with former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, Front Page. Above photo – Thai Rath, Front Page photo – Amarin TV
Also read:
Abhisit won’t be able to stop Democrat MPs from departing
Bhumjaithai tipped to trounce Pheu Thai in Kanchanaburi’s by-election
Anutin to keep himself from being ousted by no-confidence votes
MP guarantees Thammanat not involved with call centre gang
Bangkok company denies link to Cambodian scammer group
Koreans linked to alleged online scams in Cambodia arrive home to face inquiries
