MR Chatumongol Sonakul, the former finance permanent secretary and Bank of Thailand (BoT) former governor, was elected to lead the Ruamphalang Prachachartthai Party or Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) Sunday and hinted at a possible partnership with the pro-regime and Democrat parties after the next election.
MR Chatumongol won 331 votes during the party's first official meeting, attended by more than 339 founding members from all provinces nationwide in Bangkok.
He sailed through after the party co-founder Anek Laothamatas, earlier poised to clinch the leadership, withdrew his bid and put forth MR Chatumongol's nomination.
MR Chatumongol, he said, is a former senior civil servant who demonstrated strength of character. He quit the public service when he felt he was under duress to do something that was not right. "It's not easy to find a man of such character," he said.
Thavisak Na Takuathung, a former prosecutor, was chosen as party secretary-general, while Mr Anek's niece Chutathut Laothamatus and Jomdet Tremek, a lecturer in criminology at Rangsit University, were elected party treasurer and party registrar respectively. Other executive committee members were Lt Gen Nuntdach Makswat, former deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency; Veerachai Klaithong, former senior prosecutor; and Sunetta Sae-Kuo, a businesswoman.
Suthep Thaugsuban, former leader of the People's Democratic Reform Committee protest movement who also co-founded the ACT, expressed confidence the ACT would be part of the coalition government after the election expected early next year.
Mr Suthep, who led the PDRC which opposed the Pheu Thai Party-led government that was subsequently toppled in the 2014 coup, also predicted no party would win a landslide victory in the poll due to the new election method, which may give smaller parties an advantage in gaining MP seats.
MR Chatumongol, meanwhile, said his party might join hands with the pro-regime Phalang Pracharat Party believed to be a political machine which is working to secure Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha's return as prime minister after the election. "It's possible for us to work with the Phalang Pracharat," MR Chatumongol said, adding the door could also be opened to the Democrat Party, of which Mr Suthep had served as secretary-general. Mr Chatumongkol said there was no conflict between the ACT and the Democrats.
However, he said he was not certain if he could envision the ACT aligning with the Pheu Thai Party to form a government together, if it emerged victorious in the poll. "I'm not sure when the time comes there will still be a Pheu Thai because many of its former MPs have moved to other parties," MR Chatumongol said.
- Earlier report: From banker to party chief
