Democrat Party joins coalition led by Thaksin-linked Pheu Thai Party after decades of bitter rivalry

BANGKOK – Thailand’s oldest political party will join the ruling coalition led by former rival Pheu Thai Party, as new Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra finalises her Cabinet line-up.

The Democrat Party will nominate its leader Chalermchai Sri-on and secretary-general Dej-Is Khaothong as ministers in Ms Paetongtarn’s yet-to-be announced Cabinet, Mr Chalermchai told reporters late on Aug 29. 

Twenty-five Democrat lawmakers in the House of Representatives will help Pheu Thai cushion the loss of the support of 40 members of the pro-military Palang Pracharath Party that was excluded earlier this week from the ruling bloc.

With the addition of the Democrat Party, the coalition will command the support of about 300 lawmakers in the 500-member elected chamber.

An alliance between the Shinawatra clan, which controls Pheu Thai, and the Democrat Party brings an end to a bitter political rivalry dating back at least two decades.

The Democrat Party had long opposed various parties linked to Ms Paetongtarn’s father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom it had accused of cronyism, populism and corruption. 

Each side has seen their supporters engage in street protests and sometimes deadly clashes with the authorities during different periods of turmoil in Thailand that ended in two military coups. 

Ms Paetongtarn became the Thai Prime Minister on Aug 16, after Pheu Thai’s Mr Srettha Thavisin was disqualified for ethics violations by a court ruling after less than a year in power. 

Her ministerial candidates are still being vetted in a government formation process that is expected to take place until mid-September, according to Mr Phumtham Wechayachai, one of Mr Srettha’s deputy prime ministers who is acting in the leader’s capacity. 

Mr Phumtham is likely to be appointed defence minister, according to local newspaper Thansettakij.

The expected roster of the 36-member Cabinet will also likely include new names, as well as Mr Pichai Naripthaphan as commerce minister, it said.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s anti-corruption commission on Aug 30 said it had launched an investigation into 44 members of the disbanded Move Forward Party, 25 of whom are current parliamentarians, for supporting legislation seeking to amend the royal insult law.

It comes less than a month after a court ordered the dissolution of Move Forward over its election campaign pledge to amend the lese majeste law.

After being disbanded,

the group reorganised as the People’s Party

and remains the largest party in Parliament.

The royal insult law shields the crown from criticism and carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years. Opponents of the law say it has been used to stifle opposition.

National Anti-Corruption Commission deputy secretary-general Sarote Phuengrampan said an investigative panel had been established, and told Reuters: “We have started calling relevant individuals to hear the facts.”

He said: “We are not calling all 44, only some of them. This step is to collect evidence, but no one has been charged yet.”

Under the commission’s procedures, if the panel finds sufficient evidence of unethical behaviour, it would then charge people, who can present a defence before a decision is taken on whether to prosecute them in court.

The Move Forward Party was a surprise winner

of 2023’s elections, supported by urban and youth voters who favoured its anti-establishment policies, including military reform and undoing business monopolies.

However, it was blocked from forming a government by lawmakers allied with the royalist military.

A court previously handed a lifetime ban from politics to a Move Forward politician over social media posts that were deemed disrespectful to the monarchy. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS