Suthep says 2 groups don't want election

Suthep says 2 groups don't want election

Suthep: No PDRC party in pipeline
Suthep: No PDRC party in pipeline

Suthep Thaugsuban, the leader of now-defunct People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), said yesterday he believes there are now two groups of people who do not want the election held.

The first is a group who pretend to be pro-election activists, but in fact want to destroy the image and credibility of the military government because they fear the regime will return to power after the polls, according to Mr Suthep.

The second wants to form a government of national unity without a poll.

"The PDRC is neither of them. There were millions of people who joined our movement between 2013 and 2014, so some people may not want the election to be held, but I want to make it clear that they are not representing the PDRC," he said.

The former street protest leader also denied reports he supports Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha continuing as prime minister.

"I never said I support Gen Prayut being prime minister after the next election, but I said that I trust him in his current job and hope he will be able to resolve the country's problems for the betterment of the people."

Mr Suthep said his group wants to see the country moving toward a national election.

"Our stance is clear that we respect the 2017 constitution and its spirit, so we want to see the country moving toward an election," Mr Suthep said at a press conference yesterday.

The veteran politician said he believes the election is likely to take place in February next year. "However it might be postponed if there are force majeure events."

When asked to describe "force majeure events", Mr Suthep said they could be unforeseen circumstances caused by people or other unavoidable accidents.

Mr Suthep denied rumours which have gone viral on social media that the PDRC will return to the streets and derail the general election slated for February 2019.

The PDRC was the political group that held months of street protests against the Yingluck Shinawatra government which ultimately led to the May 2014 coup.

"I ensure that there will be no protests organised by the PDRC. I and other former leaders of the group have never had a plan to call people to the streets to oppose a general election. On the contrary, we believe the idea of protesting against the general election is a very dangerous one," said Mr Suthep.

He warned PDRC supporters to digest news cautiously to avoid being used as political pawns by those who want to stir up chaos in the country.

When asked whether he will form a new party using the PDRC name to contest the next election, Mr Suthep denied it.

"You can see that, apart from me, former leaders of the PDRC have rejoined the Democrat Party, so there will be no PDRC party," he said, adding he could not confirm that he would stay out of politics.

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