By Thai Newsroom Reporters
FORMER DEMOCRAT leader Chalermchai Sri-on will likely join the Klatham and contest an upcoming election under the tickets of the current coalition partner steered by de facto party boss Thammanat Prompao, a partisan source said today (Nov.5).
Chalermchai today formally resigned as a Democrat partisan member and visited Pattani where he was greeted by Deputy Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister/Klatham MP Amin Mayuso. A few southern Democrat MPs are expected to follow suit by jumping onto the Klatham bandwagon and seeking re-election under the banners of Thammanat’s camp in the nationwide race to parliament speculated to be held at any time between early February and late March.
The de facto Klatham boss who concurrently performs as deputy prime minister-cum-agriculture & cooperatives minister is scheduled to visit Pattani on Saturday and might probably see Chalermchai somewhere in the southern province that day, the partisan source said.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how many among a total of 17 Democrat MPs currently representing southern constituencies will eventually depart from the Old School conservative party for Thammanat’s camp during a run-up to the general election and seek re-election under the Klatham tickets.
Anticipated to join the Klatham shortly after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolves the House of Representatives to call a general election are Democrat MPs of Songkhla, Pattani, Trang, Pattalung and Nakhon Sri Thammarat, all being southern constituencies, among elsewhere in the same region.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva today shrugged off speculation of a Chalermchai-led exodus of southern Democrat lawmakers from the country’s oldest party, now part of the opposition bloc, to Thammanat’s camp or the Bhumjaithai, core of the current coalition government under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob to seek re-election under the banners of their new parties.
Abhisit who was unrivalled in being named Democrat leader replacing Chalermchai last month confirmed that yet-unnamed, new faces would almost certainly come up to run for MP seats under his party’s tickets in place of those who may leave anyway.
The Bhumjaithai and Klatham, both being viewed as ultra-conservative camps, are more or less speculated to grab most of the total 60 southern MP seats for in the upcoming election, probably leaving just a few to the Democrat and Palang Pracharath under leadership of former deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan.
It remains to be seen whether Newin’s camp with a dozen southern MPs currently under their command or Thammanat’s camp will defeat the People’s in the upcoming election to win any of the three constituencies of Phuket where a trio of MPs of the reformist camp are currently occupying.
CAPTION:
Deputy Prime Minister/Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao, right in above photo and left in Front Page photo, and former Democrat leader Chalermchai Sri-on. Both images – Thai Rath
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