By Thai Newsroom Reporters
PRIME MINISTER ANUTIN Charnvirakul might probably dissolve the House of Representatives sooner than earlier expected for fear of the sustained potential of de facto Pheu Thai boss/inmate Thaksin Shinawatra to secure electoral wins over many of the northeastern and northern constituencies, among elsewhere in other regions, given his release from prison which could possibly be granted prior to an upcoming election, according to partisan sources.
In what was seen as an unrelenting effort to keep the disintegrating Pheu Thai in the opposition bloc after the nationwide race to parliament, the prime minister who concurrently acts as leader of the Bhumjaithai, core of the current coalition government, would undoubtedly prefer Thaksin being literally put behind bars until the general election, speculated between early February and late March, has passed otherwise the de facto Pheu Thai boss could potentially elicit “pity-generated” votes from many northeastern and northern constituents, among others, for contestants running under the banners of the Pheu Thai, currently part of the opposition bloc, in lieu of those vying under the tickets of the Bhumjaithai under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob or other electoral rivals.
Though the prime minister has earlier pledged in public to return power to the people by dissolving the House by the end of the upcoming January so the general election be held in a 60-day time as provided by law, he has apparently failed to deny that he would change his mind to do so at any time sooner.
The prime minister who concurrently performs as interior minister has been exponentially pressed to effectively combat the Cambodia-based scam and money-laundering rackets which have allegedly involved high-profile politicians ranging from those at local to national and ministerial levels in addition to police officers, especially those attached to the Police Cyber Task Force.
For that reason, Anutin might eventually opt out by dissolving the House as soon as early next month so that the election take place around early February with hidden intent to preempt censure debate on the transnational scam/money-laundering issue which has already become the hottest item of national agenda whilst the de facto Pheu Thai boss-turned-inmate would not be released on parole until some time in March at the earliest, the partisan sources said.
A number of former Pheu Thai MPs who may be looking to seek re-election to return to the House are speculated to follow suit of those who have already defected to Newin’s camp or the Klatham, currently the coalition partner under de facto party boss/Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao, whilst it is up to anyone’s guess as to whether former transport minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit could practically replace the Shinawatra family for the roles of a major sponsor of campaign finance for most of the Pheu Thai contestants, they said.
Yet, it remains to be seen whether Somsak Thepsuthin and Suriya, the duo of leaders of Sam Mit Group, a faction inside the Pheu Thai with several MPs currently representing upper-central constituencies under command, will finally stay with Thaksin’s camp until the general election has passed or skip over to another camp and contest under their new partisan tickets.
“Suriya would certainly not have enough resources to dump onto the partisan, electoral campaign or cover the expenses of all Pheu Thai contestants, no matter if he may be very glad and willing to pay or not,” one partisan source said.
Sam Mit Group’s foreseeable future notwithstanding, Thaksin’s anticipated leadership in the Pheu Thai electoral campaign would probably be successful in part, albeit not in whole, they said.
The Thaksin family has been invariably viewed as the main sponsor of campaign finance for most Pheu Thai electoral contestants except for those attached to a few factions within Thaksin’s camp which was originally branded the Thai Rak Thai, then dissolved by court and renamed as the People’s Power.
Given a superficial change of partisan leadership from former prime minister/Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra to former deputy finance minister/current Pheu Thai MP Julapun Amornvivat, only few would seriously expect the Shinawatra family to continue to provide financial support for their partisan contestants to any extent.
Despite the current circumstances under which Thaksin’s power play has notably dwindled with himself literally behind bars, the de facto Pheu Thai boss-turned-inmate would not entirely back off from the unpredictable, volatile political arena with victories and defeats in the nationwide race for MP seats at stake, they said.
Given the fact that the Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai have shared and would likely continue to share the same bases of popular support among northeastern constituencies and elsewhere in other regions notwithstanding, Newin’s camp, currently the largest coalition party, would understandably look to grab most of the total 500 MP seats, particularly most of the total 400 in constituency-based mode whilst only a few may be seriously anticipated in the total 100 party-listed mode.
If Thaksin was released on parole around early March after having served a six-month time behind bars, chances of his neo-conservative camp winning more MP seats than currently speculated would likely increase with the de facto Pheu Thai boss himself going on the partisan campaign trail during a run-up to the election.
“To say the least, Thaksin would see to it that the Pheu Thai come up as the third largest party after the election, and definitely not the fourth. More importantly, he would manipulate to make the Pheu Thai part of a post-election coalition government,” one partisan source said.
That apparently referred to the ultra-conservative Bhumjaithai and the reformist People’s vying against each other to be the largest elected party, leaving the third largest camp either to the Pheu Thai or Klatham, in the upcoming election.
Thaksin has been undoubtedly holding pent-up grudges against Thammanat who manipulated a surprise endorsement of 26 renegade Klatham MPs for the naming of Anutin for prime minister, snubbing Pheu Thai rival candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri and virtually turning the Pheu Thai into a strange bedfellow of the People’s, currently the largest opposition camp.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page – Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, right, and de facto Pheu Thai boss/inmate Thaksin Shinawatra. Photos – Amarin TV
First insert – Klatham de facto party boss/Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao. Photo – Thai Rath
Second insert – Former transport minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit. Photo – Naewna
Also read:
Yingluck might be accused during censure debate of taking scammers’ bribes, albeit unknowingly
Anutin urged to fire Thammanat over suspected scam association
Scammers said to have moved their key base to Laos
Thai army cancels all agreements with Cambodia as hostilities linger on
