Former national police chief Priewpan Damapong has ruled out the possibility that he might become the new Pheu Thai Party leader or that he might run in the Bangkok gubernatorial race.
Acting Pheu Thai leader Viroj Pao-in, right, helps former national police chief Priewpan Damapong put on a Pheu Thai Party jacket after he and 24 others joined the party. Most were also members of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Class 10 at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School. KOSOL NAKACHOL
Pol Gen Priewpan yesterday spoke to reporters at Pheu Thai Party headquarters, where he was asked about speculation he would become new Pheu Thai leader. He has formally joined the party's ranks.
Pol Gen Priewpan said he was not ready to take up the post and even if he was ever nominated for the position, he would withdraw himself from consideration because he was not qualified for the job.
Nor was he qualified to represent Pheu Thai in the upcoming elections for Bangkok governor.
He said he now serves as an adviser to Pol Lt Gen Chaiyawat Chotima, chief of the drug suppression police, and will continue to focus on the implementation of the party's war on drugs policy.
"I know myself well and I know what I am ready for. It will be better if [the party] assigns me to oversee the drugs problem and the deep South problem," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, however, said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be the one who decides whether Pol Gen Priewpan would become Pheu Thai leader or not.
Pol Gen Priewpan, an elder brother of Thaksin Shinawatra's former wife Potjaman Na Pombejra, applied for party membership along with 25 other retired military and police officials.
Most were classmates of former prime minister Thaksin in Class 10 of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School. They include Adm Rungrat Boonyarataphan, a former deputy permanent secretary for defence.
Ms Yingluck said she was happy that Pol Gen Priewpan is now a member of her party, adding that the role he would play will be determined by party executives. There is no cabinet reshuffle in sight, she said.