Piyabutr Saengkanokkul may have been banned from politics for ten years by the Constitutional Court but the one-time Secretary-General of the Future Forward Party said that his political journey is just beginning.
Now part of the Progressive Movement, Piyabutr is going around the country to build dialogue and continue the founding mission of his former party.
He joined Thai Enquirer for a quick chat and interview.
On the court verdict and on the future
The constitutional court verdict was meant to destroy our way of thinking and to destroy any challenges to the status quo. In order to not let them be successful in doing this, we have to keep going with the mission of Future Forward and what it stands for. We want them to know that they cannot successfully stop this movement so we will go around the country and spread our message.
On his association with the Move Forward Party
By law, we cannot have any contact with the party or influence them in any way. But even though I am not there and Khun Thanathorn is not there, the 54 MPs are still former Future Forward members and they will continue the party’s legacy in moving forward. Their thinking is still the same, I hope.
On the cobra MPs and whether FFP should have spent more time screening candidates
The rules at the time did not let us approach things with any creativity or outside the box thinking. The political laws in Thailand at the time did not support the freedom of the party but they were meant to police the party.
It really forced our hands.
They announced in January that an election would be held in March which meant we had only three months to find MPs to run in the elections. We wanted everyone in the party to be newcomers, completely, every single candidate. No political families, no former candidates.
But that meant we didn’t have much time to get to know the candidates.
Still, 54 MPs went to the Move Forward Party meaning we lost 16 to other parties. That is considered a success for me, especially when people were saying we might lose a whole lot more.
On whether this is the end of his political career
Politics is not just running for government, not just being a MP. Politics is a way of thinking, it is a culture. There is plenty that we can still do even though we are banned from parliament, that includes having discussions about the culture, about what is wrong with the country and how we can fix it.
On creating dialogue with all sides
There is always room to have discussion. In any political system, there is no such thing as unanimity. We do not want violence or to clash and create problems, so there is always room for dialogue. If you look at our track record in parliament, we were always ready to talk to the government and all sides, but they never came to the table.
On Thailand’s biggest problem
The country is divided between the people who have and the have-nots and a government and society that reinforces that divide. Politicians are part of this ‘have’ club and what needs to change is that politicians need to become leaders in a real way. They need to be a voice for those that do not have one.
On the next chapter
What we are fighting for now is control of the narrative. Whoever can control the narrative has power. But we’re in a stage where we’re fighting for the soul of the nation, it is now a battle of ideas. We still cannot predict who will win but this is our most important struggle.