Expelled deputy House speaker Padipat to go under Fair Party’s banner
Deputy House Speaker Padipat Santipada, who was expelled from the Move Forward Party, announced on Monday that he will be joining the Fair Party.
In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), Padipat said he will apply to become a member of the Fair Party at 10am on Tuesday.
He also tagged the message to the Fair Party’s secretary-general and only MP Kannavee Suebsaeng.
Move Forward expelled Padipat on September 28 after he refused to step down as deputy House Speaker. The party issued a statement saying that Padipat had to be expelled to make way for its leader Chaithawat Tulathon to become the opposition leader. According to the Constitution, the opposition leading party cannot hold a speaker’s post in the House of Representatives.
Critics, meanwhile, have alleged that the party had cleverly expelled Padipat so it could control both posts of deputy House speaker and opposition leader.
In his X message, Padipat said that he has three missions as a member of the Fair Party, namely:
• Pushing for transparency in Parliament to ensure public services are efficiently delivered
• Keeping the promise of pushing for a new people’s Constitution to be written
• Supporting a real peace process in the deep South
“I’m ready for this journey,” Padipat added.
