Kla Tham Party welcomes Thamanat’s faction of expelled PPRP MPs
The Thamanat-led group of 20 MPs officially join Kla Tham, further strengthening the coalition’s presence in Parliament
Former agriculture minister Thamanat Prompow and his group of former Palang Pracharath Party MPs officially joined coalition partner, Kla Tham Party, on Thursday.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat, who leads the Kla Tham Party, then held a press conference to announce the acceptance of the 20 expelled PPRP MPs as Kla Tham MPs.
Thai law allows MPs to switch parties and retain their parliamentary status if they are expelled by their old party.
Thamanat resigned as PPRP secretary-general in early September and he, along with 19 other PPRP MPs loyal to him, were expelled from the party on December 11. PPRP is led by former deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwon.
Thammanat told the press that with his group, Kla Tham Party now has 24 MPs. He added that there are six other MPs in other parties waiting to join Kla Tham when the time is right. He did not elaborate.
As for the 20 MPs who are still with the PPRP, he said they are his brothers and sisters and they still talk to one another amicably.
He added that though Kla Tham now has a larger number of MPs, he was not planning to negotiate for more Cabinet seats with coalition leader Pheu Thai.
Thamanat’s faction was reportedly allocated its Cabinet seat quota when it was a rebel faction in the PPRP.
When asked if he would return to the Cabinet if there is a reshuffle in the future, Thamanat said his younger brother, Deputy Agriculture Minister Akara Prompow and Narumon were already representing him.
“It’s okay whether I get a post or not. If I get a post, it’s fine, if not, I’ll focus on working in Parliament,” Thamanat said.
He went on to say that Kla Tham was not a new party but had developed from the Thai Economics Party, and all its MPs have been elected twice.
As for the executive board, he said the line-up was entirely up to the party leader.
Thamanat denied that Kla Tham would be an alternative party for Pheu Thai MPs in case the ruling party is dissolved by a court.
Instead, he said, Kla Tham will fight other parties to its fullest extent in the next election and may even wipe out PPRP candidates in the next poll.
“I don’t want to boast, but MPs who earned more than 20,000 votes in their constituencies in the last poll are with us now,” he said.
He also rejected talk of reprisals from Prawit, saying: “We politicians have to work constructively. I will not harass anyone first, but will take revenge if someone harasses me.”
