Pita urges Udon Thani voters to turn out in large numbers
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat encouraged Udon Thani voters to cast their ballots in the election for president of the Udon Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), saying he was not worried about losing the election.
Pita was speaking in the Ban Phue, Nong Han and Mueang districts on Saturday, campaigning for People’s Party candidate Kanisorn Khurirangon.
Pita said that Move Forward, before it was disbanded by a charter court order, had witnessed an increase in popularity among Udon Thani people since its predecessor Future Forward Party’s participation in the 2019 general election.
Udon Thani does not belong to Pheu Thai alone, and there are also supporters here of Move Forward and Thai Sang Thai, he said. The People’s Party would not be careless with the PAO election, he assured, while asking people to turn out in large numbers to cast their ballots.
The former secretary-general of the now-defunct Move Forward, Apichat Sirisoontron, stressed that politicians should keep their promises to the public. Though Move Forward failed to form the government after the 2023 general election, the party worked to keep its promise, he said.
He explained that Move Forward had worked on land reforms to boost people’s ownership, but the previous coalition government led by former prime minister Srettha Thavisin had opposed their efforts.
“We used a land committee mechanism to tackle issues among people who have been expelled from their lands in national parks, but the government recently approved forest conservation bills to discriminate against them,” he explained.
Apichat assured that the candidate of the People’s Party, the successor to Move Forward after its dissolution, would honour his promises to the public.
Pannika Wanich, a core member of political action group, Progressive Movement, pointed out the success of Move Forward’s drinking tap water policy in At Samat subdistrict of Roi Et province in 2021 despite claims that it could not be done.
“The drinking tap water has been certified by the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Health,” she said.
She said drinking tap water is now available in Phon subdistrict of Kalasin province, Nong Khaen subdistrict of Mukdahan province, Don Ngua subdistrict of Maha Sarakham province, and Na Bua subdistrict of Udon Thani province.
Drinking tap water would be available in two other areas next year, she added.
Pannika claimed that the former Udon Thani PAO president had failed to facilitate drinking tap water across the province over the past 12 years. She pledged that if Kanisorn won the election, drinking tap water would be available across the province within a year.
She hit out against claims about the high cost of providing drinking tap water, saying the policy in Udon Thani’s Nabua subdistrict cost only 200,000 baht.
Meanwhile, Kanisorn outlined his urgent agenda to be achieved within a year, which included allowing people to check online the allocation of Udon Thani PAO’s 1.2-billion-baht budget, addressing corruption in projects, promoting electric buses, providing drinking tap water across the province, and tackling narcotics in communities.
Reacting to attempts to discredit him, Kanisorn urged politicians to propose policies that would ensure fairness in Thai politics and benefit the people.
