PM Abhisit Denies Snubbing Coalition Ally

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PM denies snubbing coalition ally

By THE NATION

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday rejected an allegation by the leader of a coalition party that he failed to respect his coalition partners in an open letter he wrote on his Facebook page.

Abhisit, who is also the leader of the Democrat Party, said it appeared that Chart Thai Pattana leader Chumpol Silapa-archa had not actually read the Facebook note.

"I think Chumpol did not actually read it. He talked about something I did not write," Abhisit said.

Chumpol, who is also tourism and sports minister, had accused Abhisit of failing to show respect to smaller coalition parties by writing that he did not have many partners to choose from in forming the Democrat-led coalition in December 2008.

The prime minister had posted two open letters - the first denying his government was formed with the military's help, and the second saying that he did his best to tackle corruption, despite limitations.

Abhisit said yesterday that he would continue writing such open letters on his Facebook page "to record the truth". He added that he had no intention of blaming any person.

Supachai Jaisamut, spokesman for the coalition Bhum Jai Thai Party, said yesterday that he respected the comments expressed by Abhisit and Chumpol. He said politicians should not take such comments too seriously.

Regarding the strong ambitions of both the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties to form the next government with an absolute majority, Supachai said it was too early to predict which of the country's two largest parties would win the most seats in the House of Representatives.

Democrat spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said the party expected to win more House seats in the North and Northeast because of shows of support from many local residents during the party's campaign tours of the areas.

He said the Democrats expected that no political party would win an absolute majority in the July 3 general election and that the margin between the winner and the runner-up would be slim.

"You can't tell with certainty now which party will win the election," he said.

Regarding Pheu Thai's claim that its survey showed the party would win as many as 300 of the 500 House seats up for grabs, the Democrat spokesman said the figure was higher than those of respected poll agencies.

He said the unusually high prediction could allow Pheu Thai to blame electoral cheating if it failed to achieve that goal.

-- The Nation 2011-06-11