Political parties form new alliance
Somkid says any bid for PM ‘up to destiny’
The Sang Anakhot Thai Party (SATP) and the Thai Sang Thai Party (TSTP) yesterday announced they have formed a political alliance, though the leaders of both parties stopped short of saying whether the move will lead to an eventual merger ahead of next year’s election.
Neither party dropped any hint as to who will become their top prime ministerial candidate — between SATP chair Somkid Jatusripitak and TSTP leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan — if the parties were to merge.
Right after both parties announced their new alliance, Mr Somkid declined to say if he would be nominated as a PM candidate if both parties were to merge, saying no post mattered to him because he has occupied many important posts in the past.
Mr Somkid served a deputy prime minister overseeing economic affairs under the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration, in addition to serving as finance and commerce minister.
“As for the premiership, it’s up to destiny — what’s important is the mission to solve the country’s problems,” he said.
The parties’ decision to form an alliance was influenced by the Constitutional Court’s ruling in November, which cleared the way for the use of the number 100 as the divisor to calculate party-list seats in the next poll.
The SATP, being a newly-established party, and the TSTP, a small party, are likely to find themselves at a disadvantage if they were to compete in the polls separately or at least without an alliance.
The new list MP calculation method, which is part of the dualballot election system, increases the number of votes a party must win to capture a list MP seat, which may prove too tough a task for small parties.
For some time, the SATP and TSTP were said to be in courtship although the expected merger never came to fruition.
One of the stumbling blocks is believed to be the unsettled issue of which party leader will be their prime ministerial candidate if they were to merge.
The law, however, allows a party which wins at least 25 MP seats from either or both of the constituency and list systems to nominate up to three people to be prime minister.
Khunying Sudarat yesterday said she and Mr Somkid have worked together for several decades, during which time they produced important policies for the country.
At this point, she said, both parties have agreed to focus on how to tackle the country’s main problems which need to be addressed urgently.
“We are here today to discuss how to work together, not to fight for power,” she said at the announcement yesterday.
Pokin Polakul, chief of the TSTP’s strategic panel, said one of his party’s priorities is to push for a rewrite of the constitution while SATP leader Uttama Savanayana stressed the need to focus on reviving the country’s economy.