Turmoil roils Democrats as ex-PM Abhisit quits party
In a stunning development on Saturday, former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned his membership of the Democrat Party following talks with another candidate.
The party was meeting on Saturday to elect its new leader after months of uncertainty.
The meeting began at around 10am once the meeting quorum of 250 was achieved. The meeting started with former prime minister and former party chief Chuan Leekpai proposing Abhisit as the new leader.
Once his candidacy was approved by the members, Abhisit presented his vision to the members.
In his address, the 27th premier of the country raised concerns about the internal discord within the party and called upon the acting Democrat leader, Chalermchai Sri-on, who is believed to lead one faction of the party, to halt the meeting and engage in discussions with him.
Chalermchai, in response, said that he was ready to talk to Abhisit.
The meeting was suspended for 10 minutes for the pair to have a discussion.
Following the talks, Abhisit came out and told the members that he was withdrawing his candidacy and resigning as a member of the party.
Abhisit, however, promised that he would not join another party and he would be ready to help the Democrats if the party needed him, saying “his blood is always blue”. Blue is the colour of the Democrat Party.
Another candidate, Watanya Bunnag was ruled ineligible to contest for the leadership after she failed to secure approval from three-fourths of the members present.
Watanya was ruled ineligible to lead the party as she had not served as a Democrat member of Parliament and had not been a member of the party for a minimum of five years.
That left Chalermchai as the only candidate in the fray.
Another leading party figure, Satit Pituthecha, also announced his resignation from the party.
