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| Faction of People Power Party Believes Somchai 1 Ineffective | |||||||
| UPDATE : 26 September 2008 | |||||||
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The volatile Friends of Newin faction of the People Power party has surprised the Opposition and political analysts alike by outwardly criticizing the makeup of the Somchai 1 Cabinet. The faction says it believes the Cabinet will be ineffective and hinted that future Parliament sessions may not be able to convene due to the lack of quorum. Various factions within the People Power party have fought bitterly for Cabinet seats. Some have emerged with more ministerial quotas while many are unhappy about the portfolios they have received. People Power Party Chaiyaphum MP Prasit Chaiwiratana, a member of the Friends of Newin faction, says the faction believes the Somchai 1 Cabinet is filled with unqualified individuals. Prasit explains that many of the ministers have been accused of serious corruption charges. He claims that the Cabinet quota allocation was unfair as some factions with only a handful MPs have been awarded too many ministerial seats. Prasit believes that the inequality will result in more internal rifts within the party. Stopping short of threatening to boycott Parliamentary meetings, he hinted that future House sessions may unable to be convened due to the lack of quorum. He added that the makeup of the Somchai 1 Cabinet may be the very reason that the Somchai government won’t be able to stay its full term in office. According to Prasit, PM Somchai is unlikely to be able to manage any conflicts that may arise within the party. But PPP MP of Ubon Ratchathani Chuwit Pitakpornpanlop has come out to reaffirm the faction’s support for the government. Chuwit revealed that the Friends of Newin faction is happy with the Cabinet line-up, with four additional Cabinet seats in its pocket. He added that the faction is determined to cooperate with the government to ensure that Thailand can survive the current economic and political crisis. The Friends of Newin faction is one of the largest factions within the People Power Party. It alone commands the cooperation of around 72 MPs out of around 300 government coalition MPs in Parliament. Meanwhile, former House Speaker and PPP executive Yongyuth Tiyapairat hosted a party on Wednesday night to congratulate the newly appointed ministers under the quota of the northern faction. Yongyuth consoled northern faction members who were not awarded any Cabinet appointment. The former House Speaker was a deputy party leader of the People Power party and has been convicted of election fraud. He’s been banned from politics for five years. Yongyuth later made a speech on the stage saying that the faction did the right thing by engineering the lack of quorum when Parliament had convened to elect a new premier on September 12th. He said he’s responsible for giving assistance to PPP party members and the ‘person in London’ in any way he can. Former PM and leader of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Thaksin Shinawatra is currently in a self-imposed exile in London. |
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