The 11 small parties have announced their support for Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister and for the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) to form the government.
Of the 11, ten are those under the 71,000-vote-per-MP threshold and the other, Palang Chart Thai, has more than 71,000 votes. The other under the 71,000-vote threshold, People Reform Party of Paiboon Nititawan, earlier vowed to support Gen Prayut and PPRP separately and did not join this group.
They held a briefing in Bangkok on their joint stand after the Election Commission endorsed one party-list MP each for them using a controversial calculation method challenged by some larger parties. The group later submitted the signed memorandum of undertanding to PPRP leader Uttama Savanayana and secretary-general Sontrirat Sontijirawong, who also attended.
Mongkolkit Suksin-tharanon of Thai Civilized, one of the 11 parties, said his group wanted to country to move forward.
“We don’t want to switch off Thailand. We want to switch it on so the country can move on,” he said in an apparent swipe at Future Forward Party’s “senators switch-off” campaign aimed at mobilising at least 376 MPs to choose the prime minister so 250 appointed senators have no say in it.
Mr Mongkolkit also appealed to key mid-sized parties who have yet to declare their stands — Democrat and Bhumjaithai — to stop bargaining and join them so the country could go forward.
“The Opposition, led by Pheu Thai and FFP, should perform their duty to the best of their abilities. I myself will help check PPRP even though I’m part of the coalition — I’m ready to stand up against things that are not appropriate,” he said.
Rawee Maschamadon of New Palang Dhamma said his party decided to join PPRP because 90% of its members nationwide believe national interests must come before a party’s interests.
After the briefing, PPRP leader Uttama Savanayana thanked the 11 parties for helping PPRP form the government. “This is a step forward into the future. We will work together, consult each other and are ready to work for the people,” the former industry minister said.
He declined to say how many seats PPRP had gathered or whether Democrat and Bhumjaithai would join it.
The 11 parties at the briefing are Palang Chart Thai, Pracha Piwat, Palang Thai Rak Thai, Thai Civilized, Pracha Niyom, Thai Teachers for People, Prachatham Thai, Thai Citizen Power, New Democracy, Thai Nation Power and Tairaktham.
With 11 small parties, the PPRP-led alliance now has 132 MPs, compared 245 of the Pheu Thai-led anti-military alliance and the undecided third alliance (116) and undecided smaller parties (5). (continued below)
The EC endorsed 99% of 500 MPs, or 498, earlier this week, giving politicians final figures to play with as they set out to finding allies.
After the briefing on Monday, the pro-regime PPRP coalition now has 132 seats based on public shows of support so far. It is led by PPRP (115), Action Coalition for Thailand supported by former Democrat fixer and street protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban (5), Palang Chart Thai (1) and 11 small parties formally pledging their support on Monday (11).
The anti-military front has 245 seats — Pheu Thai (136), FFW (80), Seree Ruam Thai (10), New Economics (6), Prachachat (7), Puea Chat (5) and Palang Puangchon Thai (1). The alliance was hard hit by the EC’s party-list calculation method which took away seven seats from FFP. That would put it behind the pro-regime front led by PPRP, provided all other smaller parties join the junta-allied group.
The third alliance is reportedly led by the Democrat Party, with 52 seats, Bhumjaithai (51), Chartthaipattana (10) and Chart Pattana (3). Together, they have 116 seats. They remain undecided.
Those believed to also be on the fence for now are Palang Thongtin Thai (3) and Rak Puen Pa (2), totalling 5.