Anchalee resigns Democrat party 577
AFTER 31 YEARS AS A Democrat Party member, Anchalee Tephabutra, who once served as SecretaryGeneral to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during his term in office, has resigned from the party.
Ms Anchalee has for decades served as a bulwark figure in Phuket for the Democrats, and served Phuket as a member of Parliament in the House of Representatives.
Ms Anchalee announced her resignation from the Democrat Party through a post on Facebook on Dec 11, saying she was “ashamed” of the party’s current leaders.
‘สจจฺ เํ ว อมตา วาจา’ (“Truth is indeed the undying word”) is the party slogan, and has been since the party was founded in 1946,” Ms Anchalee said.
“It is considered a motto that all democrats have always adhered to in their political practice since the founding of the party in 1946, From the first party leader to the eighth.
“I have been a member of the Democrat Party since 1992, more than 31 years, with unshakable stability as a politician, a member of the House of Representatives and President of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation [PPAO].
“I have been part of the Democrat Party all my life, as a politician with pride in principles, with an ideology that is honest and always considers the interests of the people and the country as the main focus,” she wrote.
“Every time I tell the people that Democrat Party members say that the Democrat Party belongs to the people… it is by the people… for the people.
“That was until Dec 9, 2023, when there was an election for a new leader of the Democrat Party, [a] return to being ‘Disloyal’ in the truth spoken.
“I will stop playing politics for the rest of my life. When party leaders in this era are unable to maintain the party motto, the party’s ideology, and cannot maintain its own truth.
“I therefore wish to resign from being a member of the Democrat Party from now on, because of the shame brought on those who were loyal to the party,” Ms Anchalee announced.
“To friends who share the ideology of the party, I am ready to thank you, the majority of the Democrat Party members, and friends who share political ideals who have worked together to be steadfast to the party until today.
“Until we meet again, when our nation needs it,” Ms Anchalee concluded.
Chalermchai Sri-on was elected as the Democrats’ ninth leader at a party meeting on Dec 9.
Following the meeting, former Prime Minister and former Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed that he, too, had resigned from the party.
Mr Abhisit described the Democrat Party’s current status as “beyond crisis”, following a slew of top party figures resigning in the wake of controversy after controversy.
Before the coup of 2014, Phuket, along with the the rest of Southern Thailand, was a bedrock of Democrat Party support, with Democrats for decades elected to represent the island.
After the coup, previously unknown candidates representing the military-aligned Palang Pracharat Party were somehow elected as Phuket MPs.
In the national election in May this year, Phuket people elected Move Forward Party candidates to represent them, with Move Forward candidates winning all three MP seats in Phuket by strong margins.
Meanwhile, support for the Democrat Party continues to dwindle. The party now holds just 25 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives, and just one Democrat in the country currently holds the position of President at a Provincial Administration Organisation (PAO).
The Phuket News