Rumblings Of Discontent In Banharn's Party

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Rumblings of discontent in Banharn's party

By Piyanart Srivalo

BANGKOK: -- Having just one person to manage and make decisions in a political party can bring both good and bad results for the party's membership.

Such is the case for the Chart Thai Pattana Party of Banharn Silapa-archa, the Suphan Buri big gun known as the only decision-maker of his party.

Banharn's management resulted in the party becoming conservative and unlikely to grow further. It did not recruit new faces to run as MP candidates. It had neither a plan to extend its political base nor one to finance candidates in an election campaign. Therefore, the party's MP candidates defected to other parties in the election in July.

Chart Thai Pattana Party won only 19 MP seats, a decline from 25 in the previous election. Even in its strong political base of Suphan Buri, the party, which once won all the seats in the province, lost one seat to the ruling Pheu Thai Party in the last election.

However, it was also Banharn who made the Chart Thai Pattana different from other parties. Known as a master of political negotiations, Banharn and his party - whether as the defunct Chart Thai or the current Chart Thai Pattana - rarely became an opposition party. Moreover, his party always received a better deal compared to other parties.

With 25 MP seats, Chart Thai Pattana was allocated five ministerial posts in former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet. When they became Pheu Thai's coalition partners with 19 MP seats, they were able to negotiate to maintain the same number of ministerial posts as they had in Abhisit's cabinet.

Cabinet posts belonging to his party were not affected by Yingluck Shinawatra's last reshuffle, although other partners had sought to swap some positions with Banharn's.

That's because Thaksin trusted Banharn. The fugitive ex-premier asked Banharn to take care of and help support his sister PM Yingluck as well as the government.

Relations between the pair seem solid, but Thaksin felt upset after the Parliament session on June 12, in which the legislature failed to vote on whether to comply with the Constitution Court’s order to halt the third reading of the charter-change bill. The vote could not be held as it lacked the required number of supporters in a preliminary vote.

Thaksin called Banharn and asked about eight Chart Thai Pattana MPs who disappeared before the votes could be cast. Banharn said he told Thaksin there was confusion over the timing of the vote and that some of the MPs had urgent business, while others were sick.

The incident upset Thaksin as his plan to pass the charter amendment bill in this Parliament session had to be delayed.

Although Banharn warned his absent MPs and asked them not to create such a problem again, it seemed they could be big trouble for Banharn.

Some of the Chart Thai Pattana MPs expressed their concern about the party's political strategy on the charter amendment and reconciliation bills. They were concerned their party might be dissolved if they tried to vote to pass the charter-change bill, as it might violate the Constitution Court order.

"In the past, Banharn had the final say. But it has changed now. We cannot accept the diktat that we have to follow a party resolution, which means an agreement between only two persons [banharn and Thaksin]," a party executive, who asked not to be named, said.

"If we don't take our own stance, how can we perform our duty as MPs? We are not a branch of the Pheu Thai Party," the executive said.

Another MP in the group said Banharn always appointed his men whenever he considered a ministerial post. For example, he would name former permanent secretary of Agriculture Minister Yukhon Limlaemthong as Agriculture Minister in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.

"If Banharn lets the party continue in the same situation we might leave [it]. We also believe that the party might win fewer MPs than the last time. It could be less than 10," he said.

It's time for the former premier to rethink his party administration - or his party may fall apart.

-- The Nation 2012-06-21

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