NARATHIWAT: The Prachachart Party aims to take all 11 House seats in 11 constituencies of the three Muslim-dominated southern provinces - Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat - in the March 24 election, party secretary-general Tawee Sodsong announced at a rally on Saturday night.
The rally was held at the 100 years Talad Nam Yakang market in Muang district of Narathiwat.
Present at the rally were Pol Col Tawee, a former secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, deputy party leader Areepen Uttarasin, party executive member Pol Lt Gen Anurut Krisanakaraket and a number of other candidates.
The rally was attended by about 3,000 people amid tight security.
Pol Col Tawee said the night rally, which was streamed live on social media, would stun people across the country because the event was unprececented in the insurgency-plagued province.
He said when the Prachachart Party was first launched in Pattani, people believed it was specially designed to win support from Muslim people in the three southern border provinces.
But as of Feb 7, the party has fielded candidates to run in 215 constituencies nationwide, including Bangkok's 30 constituencies and 27 in the North. The party's highest number of candidates is in the Northeast.
"As for the three southernmost provinces, we initially thought of winning in only five constituencies. Based on our survey, now we are confident we will sweep all 11 seats available," said Pol Col Tawee.
"I want Prachachart to be the party of us all, not of myself or Wan Nor (Wan Muhammad Noor Matha). Prachachart wants to return rights and power to the people. We will return justice to the people and solve the problem of social disparities," he added.
Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, better known as Wan Noor, the Prachachart leader, is a prominent member of the Wadah faction in the New Aspiration Party, which later merged with Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai. Thai Rak Thai later became the Pheu Thai Party.
Prachachart has been linked to Thaksin and said to be a subsidiary of Pheu Thai, designed to garner votes from Muslim people in the three southern border provinces.
