Pheu Thai might not have considered the consequences of sidelining Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon's faction from the coalition and keeping the group led by Capt Thamanat Prompow, according to observers.
The fallout between former PPRP secretary-general Capt Thamanat and the party leader is seen as beyond repair and could snowball and affect Pheu Thai as well.
According to the observers, the fragmented PPRP has reportedly initiated a probe into Capt Thamanat's alleged links with a party "outsider", a reference to Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely regarded as Pheu Thai's de facto leader.
Capt Thamanat stands accused of allowing this party outsider to interfere with party affairs, causing deep divisions within the party.
He and his group of at least 20 PPRP MPs have severed ties with the party and joined Paetongtarn Shinawatra's government. This conflict has pushed Gen Prawit into the opposition camp.
Thaksin is believed to be behind Pheu Thai's decision to exclude Gen Prawit's faction from the new coalition.
The ex-premier, who is Ms Paetongtarn's father, suspects Gen Prawit orchestrated a move by a group of former senators to petition the Constitutional Court to dismiss former premier Srettha Thavisin for appointing ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as Prime Minister's Office minister.
Pheu Thai MPs were reportedly angry with Gen Prawit for failing to attend the vote to elect Ms Paetongtarn as prime minister, as well as the vote to elect Mr Srettha last year.
The probe into Capt Thamanat and the outside interference in PPRP affairs is shaping up into an interesting development, according to Olarn Thinbangtieo, a political science lecturer at Burapha University in Chon Buri province.
This is likely why the PPRP chose not to expel Capt Thamanat and his group, despite the irreparable split. Expelling them would have allowed them to join a new party and retain their MP status.
"The PPRP is believed to prefer it this way. Capt Thamanat can either leave the party and lose his MP status or stay. Staying could imply that he is letting an outsider like Thaksin exert influence over the party.
"With him around, the PPRP can take action against Capt Thamanat, Thaksin and the ruling party," he said.
Thaksin is widely seen as a threat to the government led by his own daughter due to his meddling in government affairs.
According to Mr Olarn, one damning accusation filed with the Election Commission (EC) on Aug 19 by an anonymous individual, could deal a fatal blow to Ms Paetongtarn, similar to what befell Mr Srettha.
The complaint alleges that the main coalition party has allowed itself to remain under the influence of Thaksin who is not a party member.
The organic law governing political parties says it is illegal for a person who is not a member to control, dominate or instruct party activities in a way that causes the party or its members to be directly or indirectly influenced.
An example of Thaksin's alleged interference was when key coalition figures turned up at Thaksin's Ban Chan Song La residence in Thon Buri on Aug 14 to discuss the nomination of a new prime minister to replace Mr Srettha and the formation of a new Pheu Thai-led government.
That day, Ms Paetongtarn was reportedly overseas on a study trip so the meeting went ahead without her. Critics said Thaksin appeared to be running the show picking a prime ministerial candidate.
The meeting came just hours after the Constitutional Court ruled to remove Mr Srettha as prime minister over Pichit's appointment. After the meeting it emerged that the prime ministerial candidate would be former attorney-general Chaikasem Nitisiri, with a vote slated to take place two days later.
However, in a last-minute change, Mr Chaikasem was dropped and Ms Paetongtarn was put up by the party's executive committee and MPs. The executives and MPs voted for Ms Paetongtarn to vie for the premiership.
With multiple petitions against Pheu Thai and Ms Paetongtarn, the analyst said the government may be in for a rough ride beset by uncontrollable factors. The only thing it can do is hope for the best and pray that it will not be toppled in the near future.
When unity is put to the test
Politicians scrambling for coveted cabinet posts have seen divisions in coalition parties and the disunity may well have been the product of vindictive intrigue, according to observers.
Prawit: Harbouring PM ambitions?
Three parties have been rocked by splits within their respective ranks, and it all has to do with the jockeying for cabinet posts in the Paetongtarn Shinawatra administration.
The parties in question -- Palang Pracharath (PPRP), United Thai Nation, and the Democrats -- have experienced rifts of varying degrees. The PPRP, the once-mighty titan in the Prayut Chan-o-cha government, finds itself on the brink of disintegration now that the cabinet formation is over.
The observer noted fractures had beset the parties for some time and descended into full-blown antagonism soon after the Constitutional Court dismissed Srettha Thavisin as prime minister on Aug 14.
Mr Srettha has been replaced by Ms Paetongtarn, leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and youngest daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, who commands immense respect from Pheu Thai members and is accused by critics of being the puppet master of the politically inexperienced Ms Paetongtarn.
Early on in the cabinet's formation, many were convinced it would be a placid affair and that a new crop of ministers would be installed in no time.
However, news soon broke of the PPRP hitting the rocks when it was reported that party leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon and party secretary-general Capt Thamanat Prompow were not on speaking terms over who the party would nominate for cabinet posts.
Insiders expected the party's four cabinet portfolios under the Srettha government -- natural resources and environment occupied by Phatcharavat Wongsuwan, Gen Prawit's younger brother; agriculture held by Capt Thamanat; the deputy public health post filled by Santi Promphat; and the deputy agriculture minister position occupied by Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn -- would be given back to the party by Ms Paetongtarn.
However, a political source said rumours of Gen Prawit harbouring ambitions to vie for the premiership had left Pheu Thai feeling peeved.
It was also reported to have irked Capt Thamanat who retains close ties with Thaksin and did not want to upset Pheu Thai.
Gen Prawit was also said to have informed Pheu Thai, through a letter, that the PPRP wished to have its four cabinet members reinstated under Ms Paetongtarn.
Capt Thamanat was reported to have seen red because he was never consulted about the letter, and it was sent without his knowledge.
The rift came to a head when Capt Thamanat declared he could not be in the same party with someone he used to hold in high esteem, for whom he had sacrificed everything in the past, an apparent reference to Gen Prawit.
It was reported Capt Thamanat's PPRP faction had planned to put up its own ministerial candidates, comprising either Capt Thamanat's brother, Akara, or Narumon Pinyosinwat, leader of the Kla Dharma Party, who has been closely linked to Capt Thamanat since they served in the Prayut cabinet together.
It soon transpired Pheu Thai had retained the Thamanat group of 20 PPRP MPs in the coalition and booted out the 20-MP Prawit faction. Pheu Thai cited Gen Prawit's perceived indifference and aloofness towards the party. He did not show up to vote for either Mr Srettha or Ms Paetongtarn to be prime minister in parliament.
The void left by the Prawit group has been filled by the 25-MP Democrat Party from the opposition bloc.
However, the Democrats -- whose leader Chalermchai Sri-on landed the natural resources and environment minister portfolio, and secretary-general Dech-it Khaothong the deputy public health minister post -- were also embroiled in an internal conflict.
The Democrats were polarised with a handful of old-guard MPs led by former party leader Chuan Leekpai ferociously opposed to joining the Pheu Thai-led coalition.
Opponents argued the party should not have even entertained the thought of joining the coalition since the Democrats and Pheu Thai have been arch-rivals with ideologies and policies that are worlds apart.
In fact, Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy leader of the Democrat Party, had spearheaded the mass protests against the Yingluck Shinawatra administration back in October 2013 in response to Pheu Thai's futile push for a blanket amnesty to cover Thaksin, who was in self-imposed exile to escape justice handed down by the Supreme Court in the Ratchadaphisek land case.
In the months that followed, the protests morphed into the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) movement heaping pressure on the Pheu Thai-led government to quit. The administration was toppled by a coup engineered by the National Council for Peace and Order headed by Gen Prayut in May 2014.
Leaders of the Democrat Party, which was allocated several A-list cabinet posts in the Prayut administration, are now having hard time justifying their decision to join the Paetongtarn cabinet.
While the Chuan camp insisted that the party secure approval from its executive board before joining the government, the other faction countered by saying the board had entrusted Mr Chalermchai with sole authority to decide on the issue.
The board later officially greenlighted the party joining the coalition.
Meanwhile, the UTN had for weeks been unable to settle on its list of prospective cabinet ministers. At the centre of the storm was party secretary-general Akanat Promphan who was reported to be replacing Pimphattra Wichaikul, a young UTN stalwart, as industry minister. That speculation has now proven to be right.
However, Mr Akanat, who co-led the PDRC, came under attack, mainly from the party's own yellow-shirt supporters, after it emerged that he had testified in the course of an investigation into the lese majeste case involving Thaksin.
Many supporters said they felt let down following reports that Mr Akanat may have given statements in Thaksin's defence, even though Mr Akanat had not confirmed them.
Still, some supporters slammed the alleged testimony as inexcusable.
The observer said all the three parties have one thing in common -- they had at some point in the past been in what appeared to be an irreconcilably adversarial relationship with Pheu Thai and Thaksin.
The observer was wondering if the cabinet formation, on which Ms Paetongtarn had the final say, was possibly used as a pretext to deepen internal rifts to the extent of crippling the respective parties.
"Would driving the parties into emasculation or even disintegration be Pheu Thai's way of getting back at them?," the observer asked.