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Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha can join any party he wants and if lawmakers from the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) want to join him at another party then they can leave as well, Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said in a sign that the rift within the PPRP is still ongoing.
“They can go anywhere they want, I don’t mind,” Gen. Prawit, who is a leader of the PPPR, said when asked about the rumor that Gen. Prayut could be joining the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party and a handful of MPs from the PPRP could be joining him.
“If they want to go, they can go, this is a personal matter,” he added.
When asked if he will stop Gen. Prayut from joining another party instead of joining the PPRP the million dollars watch borrower from dead friends – Gen. Prawit said, “I will not stop him.”
The rumor that the 2014 coup leader – Gen. Prayut, could be joining the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party, which is currently being led Pirapan Salirathavibhaga who is one of Gen. Prayut’s advisers, came after a senior member of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party, Paisal Puechmongkol, posted on his social media page last week that a “VIP” is about to join the party.
Paisal said the person will also become the party’s PM candidate and he or she will join the party after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on November 21.
Gen. Prayut on Monday refused to answer anything about his political future, saying that he wanted to concentrate on the preparation for the APEC summit which is slated for next week.
He also refused to answer about a possible house dissolution after the APEC summit, citing that it is all media speculation.
Gen. Prawit said earlier this year that the house could be dissolved after the APEC summit while the leader of the opposition, Chonlanan Srikaew, said last week that the house could be dissolved after December 24 which is the deadline when MPs can move party before the government term ends in March.
The PPRP has been facing infightings since former deputy minister of agriculture and former secretary-general of the party, Thamanat Prompow, was sacked from the party and 20 other MPs left with him in January.
Some MPs from the ruling PPRP has been switching party ever since and after the Constitutional Court ruled that Gen. Prayut’s 8-year term can only last until 2025, many of their senior members wanted Gen. Prawit to run for the premier seat instead.
There was even a proposal for Gen. Prayut and Gen. Prawit to share the premier seat, with Gen. Prayut staying on for half of the government’s next term, if he is elected again, and Gen. Prawit taking over after Gen. Prayut’s term ends.
The Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party was also seen as a backup party for Gen. Prayut, in case the PPRP opted not to nominate him as a PM candidate.
If Prayut joined the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party, the PPRP’s premier candidates are expected to be Gen. Prawit and former national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda who was running for the Bangkok governor seat before opting out from the race.