Anutin ‘shocked’ at being linked by Pheu Thai to outgoing PM
Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul on Monday called Pheu Thai’s second prime minister candidate Srettha Thavisin ‘inexperienced’ and ‘immature’ for linking him with outgoing prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
During an interview with the Nation, Anutin said he was shocked by the speech Srettha delivered to residents of Nakhon Phanom province last week.
Former property tycoon Srettha reportedly said that if voters choose Bhumjaithai on one ballot and Pheu Thai on the other, General Prayut will return as prime minister. He therefore asked voters to choose Pheu Thai in both ballots.
On May 14, the date of the general election, voters will be given two ballots, one for electing constituency MPs for a total of 400 seats, and the other for electing party-list MPs, for a total of 100 seats.
Anutin said he could not believe Pheu Thai could choose such an immature person as a prime ministerial candidate. “All polls indicate that Pheu Thai is in the lead and will gain most seats. If you are confident in your leadership position, then why campaign in such an unconstructive way?”
The Bhumjaithai leader went on to say that Srettha is inexperienced from a political standpoint and lacks the leadership qualities for heading the nation, which requires the ability to unite people. “He might even be breaking the election laws by giving false information to frame another political party,” he said.
Although Anutin has maintained a positive relationship with General Prayut while serving as deputy prime minister and Public Health Minister in the outgoing government, Bhumjaithai Party has not announced its coalition plans with any party after the general election concludes.
Anutin added that Pheu Thai’s first candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of exiled former PM Thaksin, could even be more mature than Srettha despite being a lot younger.
According to the first Nation Poll conducted on April 7-12, Paetongtarn was the top choice for next prime minister at 33.81%, ahead of Move Forward’s Pita Limjaroenrat (16.87%) and General Prayut Chan-o-cha of United Thai Nation Party (8.13%).
22.58% of the respondents, however, were still undecided.
Srettha was ahead of Anutin in the Nation Poll (7.45% versus 2.7%)
