According to observers, the main opposition party, the People’s Party ( PP ) must have realized by now that its cherished relationship with the ruling Pheu Thai Party has faltered and is getting closer to breaking.
Both parties are also aware that they must stay ahead of one another as the next vote– in less than two years– approaches. A war of attrition is the general concept, which the PP has obviously engaged in for a while.
Due to its recent run of defeats in a number of provincial administrative organization ( PAO ) chairmanship races last year, the party has been encouraged to consider Pheu Thai’s threat to its chances of winning the next general election seriously.
Following the chairmen’s resignation and the province’s election request, these elections were held.
Votes in these regions are scheduled for February 1 after the chairman of the remaining PAOs have completed their terms.
In regions where it fielded applicants, the PP has never won a second PAO key election, and neither have the candidates endorsed the party. Even though the PP managed to avoid a crushing defeat in some provinces, such as Udon Thani, and did, in fact, have better help than in the 2023 public vote, the group could use some local ballot victories to increase the confidence of members and supporters, according to a resource.
Some observers think that the PP may have grown more anxious, especially considering that Pheu Thai won the majority of the PAO surveys successes.
Yet, it has been argued that public elections and PAO key events are worlds apart, both in shape and voting designs. The source noted that because many parties compete for chairs in different provincial districts during general elections, there is a higher level of competitiveness.
Additionally, general elections offer expand and inter-constituency voting, which coincide with people’s increased opportunity to practice their voting rights.
In contrast, there is no first vote in PAO key surveys. Making the trip home to cast ballots is a costly hardship for many of those who reside or work outside of their home countries where they are registered to vote.
The PP’s social media expertise may have helped it keep its urban voter base, but achievement in the PAO chief elections depends mostly on a candidate’s campaign guidelines on local, non-urban problems. According to the cause, a lot of voters prefer to live in remote or inland areas and are less enthusiastic about what’s happening on social media.
The PP don’t manage not to increase its aid foundation when it has the opportunity and anticipate a landslide victory in the next poll, despite local elections being unable to provide a reliable indicator of how a group will perform in a general election.
The party may be comfortable to assume that some voters will vote for the PP in the upcoming election because of their dissatisfaction with what they perceive as Pheu Thai’s poor government.
Given that Pheu Thai has populist policies in place, including the upcoming phase of the 10,000-baht cash handout, it would be extremely exaggerated to anticipate such a change.
At the same time, past leading Thaksin Shinawatra has been out and about in the provinces, helping recreate Pheu Thai’s system of red-shirt followers. During the more than 15 times Thaksin was a self-imposed captivity, the action considerably weakened.
A number of hard-core, intellectually driven people have hung up their red shirts and switched to the PP. Pheu Thai might find it easier to win back reasonable red shirts, who were the movement’s mainstay, according to the source.
Thakin has also made a concerted effort to form a friendship with strong social figures in the regions. Pheu Thai may have won the majority of the new PAO main polls because of this strategy.
Through a great mobilization of common support and organized and creative electioneering, Pheu Thai’s growing strength in local politics is expected to give it a much-needed edge in nationwide polls.
The PP has struggled to gain more voter attention, despite Pheu Thai’s excellent future preparation. The party had put a lot of emphasis on issues that do not seem particularly urgent to most people on the ground, such as constitutional amendments and sorting out referendum rules, according to the source.
The PP, however, has visibly been more assertive in keeping Pheu Thai in check.
The PAO chairman’s contests provided the platform for Thaksin to speak out against the PP, only to receive an immediate retort. Thaksin reportedly made fun of the PP at a campaign rally in Chiang Mai last month because he was determined to promote equality.
” But in the eyes of]the People’s Party], equality of status takes priority, unlike the kind of real-deal equality of life opportunities which Pheu Thai is offering everyone”, he said.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been the target of the PP’s efforts to hit Pheu Thai where it hurts the most, Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The main opposition party accused the prime minister of avoiding responding to its questions at an early-Mayparliamentary interpellation session.
Ms. Paetongtarn claimed she could not attend the session because she was focused on announcing the government’s accomplishments after 90 days in office.
Frustrated, the PP reminded Ms Paetongtarn that she must pay heed to accountability.
A no-confidence motion will be submitted against the government during the current parliament session, according to Opposition whip chief Pakornwut Udompipatskul.
The government will be questioned over a number of censure issues, possibly including alleged policy-oriented corruption, according to PP leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, who has confirmed the censure debate will take place in March.
Delving into a medical mystery
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is once again in the limelight, campaigning for Pheu Thai candidates running for provincial office ( PAO ) chairman positions and expressing his vision for the future of the nation.
The controversy over his extended stay at the Police General Hospital ( PGH) is unafraid of any progress, even as the ruling party’s alleged de facto leader works to revitalize its base.
Critics continue to question whether his six-month placement in the PGH’s premium ward was necessary for his medical condition or a practical way to avoid prison time.
Political observers predict that with his daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as head of the coalition government and in charge of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), the controversy will grow.
On his return from self-imposed exile on August 22, 2023, Thaksin was given an eight-year prison sentence, three of which included three cases, before royal clemency reduced the prison term to a year.
On his first night, he was transferred from a Department of Corrections (DC ) facility to the PGH, where he spent about six months before receiving his parole and hospital discharge on February 18, 2013.
He was given a year in prison on August 31 and has been participating in a variety of activities ever since.
According to observers, Thaksin’s critics, who strongly suspect his medical conditions were fabricated, are unlikely to lay the issue to rest, especially after the National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC ) released its findings last year that the DoC and the PGH helped Thaksin serve all his jail time in hospital.
These findings made it possible for the justice system to launch an investigation and take legal action against doctors who had committed any ethical breaches. A number of state officials are currently caught in the crossfire over Thaksin’s protracted hospital stay.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NACC ) has launched a probe against 12 officials, including DoC Director-General Sahakarn Phetnarin and PGH chief, Pol Lt Gen Taweesilp Wechawitarn, who stand accused of facilitating Thaksin’s extended stay.
The anti-graft agency has appointed advisers and a secretariat to oversee the fact-finding process, accepted the case for investigation, and appointed the entire panel of commissioners to supervise the investigation.
The Ethics of Doctors Who Were Consulted During Thaksin’s Hospitalization has also been the subject of a new investigation launched by the Medical Council of Thailand (MCT). The investigation panel led by Dr. Amorn Leelarasamee has requested full details of Thaksin’s admission, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as the names of all the medical professionals who treated him.
Requests for copies of all correspondence pertaining to Thaksin’s transition from the DoC hospital to the PGH, as well as copies of all correspondence regarding his transfer from the DoC hospital to the PGH, as well as records of the operation, as well as details of the prescribed medication, X-rays, and lab test results from the time Thaksin was admitted until the day he was released.
The MCT is expected to take 45 days to thoroughly review Thaksin’s medical records. However, these records may continue to be private and not accessible to the general public as a result of the data privacy law.
Jatuporn: Targeting Thaksin
Jatuporn Prompan, a former red-shirt leader, is optimistic that the MCT’s ethical investigation’s findings will provide supporting evidence for the NACC investigation.
Mr Jatuporn has placed full confidence in NACC commissioner, Ekkawit Watchawanku, a former Supreme Court chief justice who is leading the inquiry.
He anticipates that those accused of helping Thaksin dodge serving his sentence without putting in a full day in jail will be included in the NACC investigation.
The ten hospital visitors to Thaksin should also be held accountable for assisting in misconduct and concealing information, according to Mr. Jatuporn, if it is discovered that he wasn’t actually sick.
Ms. Paetongtarn should anticipate the pressure and be prepared for a lot of scrutiny over what appears to be a hot potato landing in her lap.
Anti-Thaksin organizations will write to Ms. Paetongtarn next week to pressure her into taking action as she oversees the RTP, according to Mr. Jatuporn.
These organizations called on national police chief Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet to address the issue in a rally outside the RTP headquarters in the early hours of the morning.
The former red-shirt leader urged the 12 officials under investigation to consider whether the irreparable harm to their reputation and the potential legal repercussions of aiding Thaksin are worth. The involved doctors face imprisonment and the possibility of having their medical licenses suspended.
He advised them to carefully consider what might lie ahead for them if they helped Thaksin, who sided with the court’s decision and undermined the nation’s justice system.