|
By Shen Min, Agence France-Presse
BANGKOK: Six Thai political parties, led by the
People Power Party (PPP), which grabbed most MP seats in the
December 23 general election, on Saturday officially announced here
that they will form a coalition government.
Present at a joint press conference at a Bangkok
Hotel Saturday afternoon were the PPP leader Samak Sundaravej and
the party’s Secretary-General Surapong Suebwonglee, along with
representatives from the other five parties including Chart Thai
(Thai Nation) Party deputy leader Sanan Kachornprasart, Puea Pandin
(For the motherland) Party leader Suvit Khunkitti, Ruam Jai Thai
Chart Pattana (Thais United National Development) Party leader
Chettha Thanajaro and Matchima Thipataya (Neutral Democratic) Party
Secretary-General Anongwan Thepsuthin, and Pracharaj (Royal People)
Party leader Sanoh Thienthong.
Samak said six-party coalition, with a total of
315 MP seats in the 480-member House of Representatives, will be
strong enough to form a new government.
Representatives from the five parties said that
the election has seen the PPP win 233 parliamentary seats, which
showed the majority of the people do support the PPP and made it
eligible to form a government, so that their parties decided to join
the PPP- led coalition for the benefit of the country.
The formation of the six-party coalition will
leave the Democrat Party, which won 165 MP seats and refused to join
the PPP-led coalition, as the sole opposition party in the House.
When asked if he would become Thailand’s new
prime minister as he vowed to be during the election campaign, Samak
said the press conference was only for announcing the coalition, and
the premiership will be discussed and decided in the parliament.
Samak, a 72-year-old outspoken veteran
politician and former deputy prime minister, was widely tipped to
become Thailand’s 25th prime minister. But there speculations that
he might be sidelined in the cabinet formation to sacrifice for a
reconciliation with other parties in the coalition and other
non-party forces.
The parties are now believed to be on the last
stage of bargaining as to who will fit in the 36 ministerial posts
in the new cabinet. The line-up will be disclosed in early February.
PPP’s deputy leader Noppadon Pattama, a former
legal advisor to ousted premier Thaksin, earlier said the party will
ask for top posts at the five main ministries of Defense, Interior,
Justice, Finance and Commerce.
The formation of a PPP-led coalition government
has been expected, and it will become only legally feasible after
the Supreme Court cleared one big hurdle on the way by dismissing
attempts to nullify the voting results of the general election and
to question the legitimacy of the PPP’s election victory.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled against the
petition by New Aspiration Party spokesman Sarawut Thongpen that
sought to annul the outcome of the advance and absentee voting on
December 15 and 16. The verdict held that the advance voting was
valid and that the Election Commission (EC) was properly authorized
to organize the two-day voting.
It also threw out lawsuits brought by former
Democrat Party MP candidate Chaiwat Sinsuwong, who had also
questioned the fairness of the advance voting results, and asked the
court to rule whether the PPP is a proxy for the former ruling party
Thai Rak Thai party (TRT), now disbanded, and whether the PPP leader
Samak is a nominee for the TRT founder, ousted prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra.
The TRT was disbanded on a court verdict on
electoral fraud charges last May, and its 111 party executives,
including Thaksin, were banned from running for political posts for
five years.
Many former TRT members joined the PPP, formerly
a fringe party. Its new leader Samak openly voiced his support for
the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin.
Most votes won by PPP in the December 23
election have come from TRT’s traditional strong-base in the North
and Northeast, where Thailand’s rural majority live and are
believed to have benefited from the Thaksin administration’s
populist policies.
A verdict against the PPP and Samak might smash
the hope for the PPP to lead a new coalition government or to exist
ever, or for Samak to be the country’s new premier.
However, the Court decided to dismiss the cases,
citing that the authority to rule on the proxy case relies on the
Constitutional Court rather than the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the EC endorsed on Friday the
election victory of 460 MPs to be expected to convene their first
meeting on January 21.
According to the PPP, the House will choose a
House Speaker next Tuesday and a Prime minister next Friday. The new
PPP-led government will be the first elected government after a
military coup ousted the former government led by Thaksin on
September 19, 2006
|
