Don’t write off the ‘Four Boys’
The high-profile politicians in the socalled See Gumarn (Four Boys) group travel in a pack and they have certainly stuck together through thick and thin.
Supporters say the quartet — Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana; Energy Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong; Higher Education, Science and Innovations Minister Suvit Maesincee; and Kobsak Pootrakul, deputy secretary-general of the prime minister — have bid farewell to the cabinet with their heads held high, despite intense jockeying for their posts from politicians in their own ruling Palang Pracharat Party (PPRP) who had threatened to depose them.
However, their resignations from the PPRP — Mr Uttama was its leader, Mr Sontirat its secretary-general and Mr Suvit and Mr Kobsak just members — may not spell the end of their political careers. In fact, the PPRP’s loss of the four men, who were among its cofounders, may well be another party’s gain.
Of the four, Mr Sontirat has been the most visible of late. He was pictured on social media beaming as he gazed at a sumptuous breakfast spread on Monday, his first morning out of the job. In fact, the former energy minister looked so full of energy some observers were curious as to whether he was out of a job or “between jobs”.
The name, See Gumarn, is believed to have been coined at a time when the four men were busy forming the PPRP ahead of the general election in March last year that swept Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha back into power.
It has been suggested that the term was borrowed from the title of a popular TV folk series, See Yord Gumarn, which aired for the first time in 1983. The series, in which four siblings possess miraculous powers and prevail over evil, could be described as a distant equivalent to the Fantastic Four, a fictional superhero team depicted in American comic books and made into a blockbuster film in 2015.
Observers say the four men’s simultaneous departures from the cabinet were greeted with almost a cheer among some PPRP insiders, who fought hard to hide their glee at seeing the party’s co-founders packing their bags and leaving.
While several party sources maintained the four politicians had not parted company with the PPRP on a sour note, the observers noted that neither did the ruling party throw them a farewell party, or even do so much as publicly thank them for their service.
It had been reported in the news for some time before their resignations that certain elements in the PPRP had been less than pleased with Mr Uttama’s performance as party leader. He was chastised for alleged character flaws, which included being aloof and lacking in “generosity”.
Mr Sontirat, however, received a more positive review from members of the PPRP’s core factions and he was given high marks for being approachable.
One political analyst said the See Gumarn politicians might be down but were not out, especially as the PPRP’s popularity has continued to tumble, due in large part to what some critics believe was the mistreatment of the four politicians, the relentless squabbling among PPRP stalwarts for ministerial posts left vacant by the resignations, as well as the ruling party’s push for a former minister with questionable credentials to fill the vacancy left by Mr Sontirat.
As the rumours swirl within the PPRP over a cabinet reshuffle, expected in weeks rather than months, another party has been busy quietly consolidating its support base, refining its policies and conducting its political activities in a way that might strike a chord with some, if not all, of the four politicians.
Although the possibility has been entertained that the four politicians may establish their own political party, the Kla Party led by former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij could instead charm them into joining its ranks.
The Kla has a manifesto that is heavy on new-paradigm economic pragmatism. This appeals directly to middle-class voters, many of whom have suffered during the pandemic and benefited from the relief aid rolled out by the government’s economic team. That was due to the efforts of Mr Uttama, when he was finance minister, and Mr Sontirat, when he was steering the Energy Ministry.
Mr Uttama and Mr Sontirat have accrued top-level policy management experience and economic expertise. That could work in sync with the policy direction of the Kla Party, which is building a strong economic team of its own, the analyst said.