Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party (FFP) on Sunday declared the party is set to shake up local politics by fielding candidates in elections at provincial administrative organisations (PAO) nationwide.
Speaking at a meeting with supporters at FFP headquarters, Mr Thanathorn said the FFP is now preparing its candidates to contest local elections which will take place five months from now. "After our success on the national stage in recent general elections, we now want to do the same on the local stage. I cannot tell how many provinces we will compete in yet, but there will be many," he said.
Mr Thanathorn said FFP's policies for local elections will focus on the decentralisation of the bureaucratic system, allowing local administrative organisations to have more power to decide their own future. "Our local policies will be in line with our national policies, which are based on research and public opinion. Our candidates must be able to say how they plan to change the transport system, the economy and quality of life in each province," he said.
Mr Thanathorn said the FFP also plans to introduce projects based on what he learnt from a recent trip to Europe. Among them are a water management project from the Netherlands, a digital economy project based on the one in Switzerland and green development projects with Germany as the exemplar.
"Our innovative structure and philosophy will allow us to set an example and create new conditions that will gradually transform Thailand's political landscape," he said. "Politics should belong to the people, and not be monopolised by technocrats and bureaucrats".
Meanwhile, FFP on Sunday also held a training course in Chon Buri province for its 87 elected MPs on how to make their policy promises come about in practice in constituencies and at the national level.
Sirikanya Tansakul, policy director of Future Forward, said the first mission of FFP in parliament would be "getting rid of the legacy of the coup" by amending Section 279 of the 2017 charter, which justifies National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s announcements and grants the NCPO immunity.