The undercurrent runs deep in the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) but not quite deep enough to go unnoticed.
Cracks within the senior ranks of the coalition party have been noticeable for some time but they did not come to a head until an outspoken member began chastising Srettha Thavisin while the latter was prime minister over his performance in running the country.
The PPRP is now bitterly split down the middle with party leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon leading one side and party secretary-general and Caretaker Agriculture Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow the other.
Samat Jenchaijitwanich, a former vice minister for justice, is on the verge of losing his PPRP membership following a conflict with Capt Thamanat.
An observer said Capt Thamanat had every reason to be displeased when Wan Ubumrung fell out with the ruling Pheu Thai Party at the end of June. Mr Wan was heavily reprimanded by Prime Minister and Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra for appearing at a Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) chairman election in Pathum Thani on June 30 and fraternising with a party opponent, Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang.
Mr Wan later quit Pheu Thai and moved to the PPRP with Mr Samat being credited with arranging Mr Wan’s defection.
Mr Samat apparently earned political points over Mr Wan’s defection in the eyes of Gen Prawit who is said to have grown increasingly trusting of Mr Samat.
However, the observer said Capt Thamanat may not have been very enthused about the PPRP welcoming Mr Wan with open arms. Not only did Mr Wan’s entry into the PPRP appear to bypass Capt Thamanat, leaving him feeling sidelined, but he may also have felt the PPRP should have had second thoughts about accepting a politician accused of breaking rules and acting offensively in another coalition party, and who subsequently had to part ways with that party in rather hostile circumstances.
Also, Mr Wan’s father, the seasoned politician, Pol Capt Chalerm Ubumrung, has challenged Pheu Thai to expel him. Pol Capt Chalerm, a Pheu Thai list MP, said he also visited Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit at the close of the June 30 PAO polls and so, like his son, he should be punished by the party by means of expulsion. This would enable him to keep his MP status when switching to another party.
Reports of Pol Capt Chalerm applying to join the PPRP, although far-fetched, has not been ruled out.
A source close to the matter said Capt Thamanat retains close ties to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Ms Paetongtarn’s father and a towering figure in Pheu Thai. The PPRP secretary-general might be wary of Pheu Thai harbouring frustration with Mr Wan joining the PPRP and Mr Samat’s criticism of Mr Srettha at the time.
The frustration was feared to have reached a point where Pheu Thai might contemplate ditching PPRP from the coalition and replacing it with the Democrat Party.
That fear has now been realised with Democrats joining the Pheu Thai-led cabinet.
The source said Mr Samat’s actions had ruffled Capt Thamanat’s feathers, leading to an internal call for Mr Samat to be expelled. The conflict between them had reached a crisis point before Pheu Thai ditched the PPRP from the coalition line-up this week.
While the PPRP was still in the government, Mr Samat insisted he found it perplexing that neither Mr Srettha nor Pheu Thai had openly reproached or threatened to sue him over his criticism of them.
“On the contrary, it’s the PPRP which is all worked up and strenuously defending the prime minister.
“I’m bewildered, to say the least, with what the PPRP has become. Is it Pheu Thai’s lackey?” Mr Samat said.
Earlier, Phai Lik, a PPRP MP for Kamphaeng Phet and deputy party secretary-general, posted a photo online of more than a dozen party MPs with Capt Thamanat seated in the middle, who he claimed were ready to demand that Mr Samat be driven out of the party.
Mr Samat, meanwhile, said some party members were even upset with him for vocally advocating for Gen Prawit to bid for the premiership following Mr Srettha’s dismissal as prime minister by the Constitutional Court on Aug 14.
But any effort to push for Gen Prawit to take over as premier is as good as dead with Ms Paetongtarn now elected by parliament to succeed Mr Srettha. He lost the premiership over his decision to appoint ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as a PM’s Office minister in the last cabinet reshuffle, which violated the charter.
Gen Prawit running for the premiership would have been construed as an overly ambitious, if not hostile, attempt to seize power from Pheu Thai, the source said.
“What wrong have I committed for cheer-leading Gen Prawit, who is our own party leader, to have a shot at being prime minister?
“And for this, I deserve [threats] to be kicked out of the party?” Mr Samat said.
The division in the PPRP has been deeper than most might think, according to the source, as Gen Prawit and Capt Thamanat had grown increasingly estranged before turning their backs on each other. Capt Thamanat declared recently it was time for him to move out and move on.
Before the fallout became public, Capt Thamanat had denied any frosty relations between him and Gen Prawit amid heavy speculation he was considering quitting the PPRP ahead of the next election. His options might be either to contest the next poll with Pheu Thai or lead his own party.
Revenge is in the air
Prawit: Can’t shed coup-maker image
Among the three “Por” generals, Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon is the only one who has remained active in politics since last year’s general election.
With 40 House seats, the PPRP is the fourth-largest party in parliament, but the party’s fortunes have changed dramatically now MPs from the ruling Pheu Thai Party have successfully made the party expel the PPRP from the coalition.
Pheu Thai made it known that it was less than happy when the PPRP leader did not attend the vote to elect its PM candidate, Srettha Thavisin, as premier last year. His failure to also appear for the vote for Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra to become prime minister on Aug 16 appeared to be the last straw.
When Pheu Thai’s executive committee resolved to dump the PPRP from the coalition this week, it may well have brought the curtain down on Gen Prawit’s political career and the party, according to observers.
It is widely believed that after being excluded from the government, the MPs currently loyal to Gen Prawit will gradually distance themselves from him and pursue their own agenda.
Pheu Thai has had no problem filling the void and maintaining a majority in the House, according to observers.
A faction led by PPRP secretary-general Thamamat Prompow with 29 MPs is eager join the government and Capt Thamanat has already severed ties with Gen Prawit by declaring his independence from the party. However, the 29 MPs remain technically part of the PPRP.
A group of 20 MPs from the opposition Democrat Party have switched allegiance after accepting Pheu Thai’s invitation to join the coalition. Moreover, six renegade MPs from the opposition Thai Sang Thai Party who voted for Ms Paetongtarn to become prime minister may also be brought in to bolster support.
Stithorn Thananithichot, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at the King Prajadhipok’s Institute, told the Bangkok Post that it is a matter of when, not if, Capt Thamanat’s faction will be expelled from PPRP now that the party has been pushed into the opposition.
To show loyalty to the Pheu Thai-led government, Capt Thamanat’s faction will have to defy the PPRP in a House vote, and its faction will pressure the party’s executive committee to take decisive action. In that event, Capt Thamanat’s group may defect to the Kla Dharma Party headed by former key PPRP member Narumon Pinyosinwat, he said.
“Capt Thamanat will have a difficult time working in these circumstances. But for Pheu Thai, it is revenge served cold against Gen Prawit,” said Mr Stithorn.
Gen Prawit is unable to shrug off the image of being one of the three ‘Por’ generals who engineered the May 2014 coup that toppled the Pheu Thai-led government.
According to the analyst, Pheu Thai now has a chance to regain popularity, given the positive feedback of a recent dinner talk featuring former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Pheu Thai’s de facto leader.
He was referring to “Dinner Talk: Vision for Thailand 2024,” an event held by the Nation Group on August 22, at which Thaksin spoke on a range of issues, from cash handouts to legalising casinos to saving financially ailing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Observers saw it as an indicator of the policies of the Paetongtarn Shinawatra administration, which has yet to deliver its policy statement to parliament.
Many “Gen X” voters who switched from Pheu Thai to the now-dissolved Move Forward Party, which was reborn as the People Party, may return if they believe the PP will never be able to govern due to its perceived radical political ideology.
The ruling party’s popularity is now in the hands of Thaksin and his daughter and it is believed that Pheu Thai will conduct an opinion poll to gauge the party’s popularity after the dinner talk event, said the analyst.
Ms Paetongtarn, as Thaksin’s daughter, is in a stronger position than Mr Srettha who was perceived as a proxy without substantial authority at his disposal. And with Thaksin’s extensive experience in politics and businesses, it is likely that the government under Ms Paetongtarn’s leadership will be able to deliver better results than the previous Srettha administration, according to Mr Stithorn.
“Ms Paetongtarn doesn’t seem to mind Thaksin playing the [backseat] PM role. She doesn’t need to prove she is the real prime minister,” he said.
However, the analyst believes that Gen Prawit will not simply step aside and let himself fade away. Instead, the PPRP leader will seek opportunities to get even with the ruling party.
Over the course of nine years when the military regime was in power, Gen Prawit is believed to have established solid connections in several public independent agencies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Given the current political situation, Gen Prawit cannot use these bodies against his political opponents and will have to bide his time, according to Mr Stithorn.