Gen Prawit Wongsuwon was re-elected as the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader hours after stepping down from the position yesterday morning.
His younger brother and former national police chief, Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwon, was also appointed as the party’s chief adviser in what is seen as a move to pave the way for the PPRP to join a new government under a deal reached with the Pheu Thai Party, according to sources.
Following the resignation of Gen Prawit, who also serves as deputy prime minister, the PPRP began a voting process to elect a new leader and a 21-member executive board.
Palang Pracharath MP Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn nominated Gen Prawit for the top post, and he was the sole candidate.
The results showed Gen Prawit had made a comeback as the party leader.
The five new deputy leaders are Santi Promphat, Paiboon Nititawan, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, Wirach Ratanasate and Trinuch Thienthong.
Capt Thamanat Prompow, a key figure of the PPRP and MP for Phayao, became the party’s secretary-general again.
He, along with 20 other MPs under his control, was ousted from the party last year for plotting against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
A PPRP source said the appointment of Pol Gen Patcharawat as the party’s chief adviser is “a signal the party is expected to be invited to join a Pheu Thai-led coalition”, excluding the pro-democracy Move Forward Party, ahead of the new PM vote on Friday.
Under the deal between the parties, if the PPRP joins the coalition, Gen Prawit will not take any cabinet post, so Pheu Thai will not face criticism from its supporters who do not want the “uncles” to be a part of the government coalition.
“Uncles” refer to Gen Prawit and Gen Prayut.
Instead, Pol Gen Patcharawat would take the interior minister post as well as serve as deputy prime minister in a Pheu Thai-led government, the source said, adding Pol Gen Patcharawat has close ties with exiled ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Pol Gen Patcharawat is believed to have acted as a liaison between Thaksin and Gen Prawit for several years.
On Thursday, massage parlour tycoon-turned-whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit claimed that the Pheu Thai Party had struck a deal with Bhumjaithai and the PPRP to form a government with a combined 279 MPs, excluding the MFP.
He said key Pheu Thai figures met Thaksin in Hong Kong to strike the deal on Tuesday — the same day Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Progressive Movement, allegedly also met Thaksin there.
A PM candidate nominated by the new coalition bloc would get the support needed from senators because the MFP would no longer be part of the coalition, Mr Chuvit said.
Capt Thamanat yesterday reiterated the PPRP’s stance that it will not support any party that plans to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law.
“The PPRP has a policy to put the past conflicts behind us.
“Therefore, we cannot afford to work with any party that will cause division and conflict,” he said, referring to the MFP.