Sudarat likely to lead Pheu Thai party

By OLAN LERTRUDTANADUMRONGKUL 
THE NATION

 

 

VETERAN POLITICIAN Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan remains favourite to become the Pheu Thai Party’s next leader, as the politically powerful Shinawatra family stand behind her.

 

Sudarat is strongly favoured by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife Khunying Pojaman Na Pombejra, who both retain considerable influence in the party despite having no executive positions. 

 

There have been no candidates from the Shinawatras to lead Pheu Thai after former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country to avoid imprisonment. Yingluck was sentenced to five years in jail in absentia for negligence in a case stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

 

There have been efforts from different party factions to remove Sudarat as the favoured candidate to lead the party and therefore its prime ministerial candidate. 

 

Some Pheu Thai politicians recently met Thaksin in Beijing and Hong Kong to persuade him to change his mind. But Thaksin opted to be noncommittal and told them to wait for a decision by a majority vote of the party to select a new executive board. 

 

Sudarat has upset many party colleagues by the way she acted in running the party, despite the existence of a caretaker leader, while others are annoyed by her personality, another source said.

 

To lessen pressure on Sudarat, the “Big Boss” Thaksin assigned his trusted man Pongsak Ruktapongpisal to take a greater role in managing the party. However, Pongsak is likely to act as Sudarat’s sidekick rather to lead the party himself, as had been rumoured.

 

Thaksin recently met Pongsak personally in front of a handful of key Pheu Thai figures, according to sources. 

 

Pongsak, a wealthy businessman with no political ambitions, has kept a low profile in the party although he commands a lot of respect among its members. He is also known for his ability to broker agreements between conflicting factions.

 

His main task now is to fix the growing cracks within the party, particularly over the next leader.

 

Pheu Thai sources yesterday dismissed the rumour that Thaksin assigned Pongsak to lead the party. A Bangkok politician who is close to Sudarat said this could be an attempt by her opponents to undermine Sudarat’s chance of becoming the next party leader. 

 

“Such a rumour is not good for the party,” the source said. “It mainly depends on the Big Boss. He will choose who leads the party. People who disagree with his choice are just undercurrents.”

 

Pongsak was “shocked” by the rumour as he had no ambition to lead the party, according to a source.

 

He entered politics in 1987 as a co-founder of the now-defunct Progressive Party. Five years later the party became part of a new political alliance called the Solidarity Party, in which Pongsak served as a deputy leader.

 

After Thaksin founded his first political party, Thai Rak Thai, in 2000, Pongsak became the party director. Pongsak served as industry minister in Thaksin’s government and later as energy minister in Yingluck’s government.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30339328

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-21

"Sudarat is strongly favoured by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife Khunying Pojaman Na Pombejra, who both retain considerable influence in the party"

 

Isn't it likely Sudarat might be seen as Thaksin 3.0?

 

They seem to be dealing with their problems and organizing.  The "Dems" have the old fellow and not much else going for them.  And the junta has Suthep.  The next question is, who will be the next coup leader ? 

19 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

They seem to be dealing with their problems and organizing.  The "Dems" have the old fellow and not much else going for them.  And the junta has Suthep.  The next question is, who will be the next coup leader ? 

It's no good speculating about that - in case they get rid of him in a coup-within-a-coup.

 

That is if she doesn't suddenly become suicidal or contract a rare blood disorder first. 

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

They seem to be dealing with their problems and organizing.  The "Dems" have the old fellow and not much else going for them.  And the junta has Suthep.  The next question is, who will be the next coup leader ? 

post election scenarios dont look promising; my most dreaded scenario would be suthep as PM

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

It's no good speculating about that - in case they get rid of him in a coup-within-a-coup.

Hmmm.... All the other actors are readying themselves for another encore of the smash hit show "coup d'etat d'thailand".  Little p will have to be satisfied with just cameo appearances.  He suffers from overexposure and a flop performance, which could be turned into pratfalls and flashbacks in the future. 

 

Little p could be asked to step down at some point, but replaced by whom within the military or civil service ?    He has center stage for performances up until the end of this year, longer based on other's opinion. 

Edited February 21, 20188 yr by yellowboat

In any 'free' elections, Puea Thai will win. It's them or dictatorship...

19 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

In any 'free' elections, Puea Thai will win. It's them or dictatorship...

That's right. 

Take your pick.