Parties seek to pool strengths ahead of next general election
The Kla and the Chart Pattana parties plan to hold a news conference on Friday to announce what could be a political merger, sources say.
Chart Pattana spokeswoman Yaowapa Burapolchai confirmed on Thursday that party chairman Suwat Liptapanlop and Kla leader Korn Chatikavanij are scheduled to appear together at the event to announce “political news” at Mr Suwat’s residence in Dusit district of Bangkok.
Kla spokesman Sanyakorn Singweeratham also confirmed the event.
According to a political source, the two parties will announce a merger, a decision they arrived at after taking part in talks for some time.
Both parties believe they could capitalise on each other’s strengths in the coming general election campaign next year.
Chart Pattana’s strength lies in its status as a long-established party with a stronghold in Nakhon Ratchasima, though its representation slipped to a mere four seats in the House of Representatives in the 2019 election.
Kla, which means Brave in Thai, is a newcomer in politics looking to garner support from young voters and to capitalise on its leader’s high name recognition.
Kla was first registered with the Election Commission after the 2019 election. Mr Korn is a seasoned politician with economic expertise, who served as finance minister in the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration from 2008-11.
After the merger, the new party is expected to adopt policies that will focus on urgently tackling the country’s economic problems.
Mr Korn, who served as chairman of JPMorgan Thailand before entering politics, ran for the Democrat Party leadership in 2019 but lost to Jurin Laksanawisit. After that, he quit the Democrats to form Kla in February 2020.