Some Pheu Thai Party MPs have proposed their party should serve in the opposition and not support a Democrat Party MP as House speaker or it could lose in the political game, according to a party source.
The role of House speaker, who is the ex-officio president of the parliament, appears to be dominating talks related to the formation of a coalition government with the Democrats reportedly being offered the post by both the Pheu Thai and the Palang Pracharath parties (PPRP).
Democrat veteran and list-MP Banyat Bantadtan is being touted for the House speaker post.
The Pheu Thai source said some party MPs are concerned this approach may not bode well for Pheu Thai which would have a lot to explain to its supporters if it agreed to join the Democrats, their political arch-rivals, in voting for a Democrat MP to be House speaker.
"The PPRP itself has mustered more than 126 votes [including those from some allied parties] so far. Combine that with 250 senators and Pheu Thai [and its allies] do not stand a chance when it comes to selecting the prime minister. So it's no use supporting a Democrat for the House speaker's role," said the source.
According to the source, even though if the Pheu Thai-led alliance manages to woo the Democrat and Bhumjaithai parties onto its side, it still does not have enough votes needed to beat the PPRP-led group and the Senate in the vote for prime minister.
Under the constitution, the 250-member Senate will join MPs in the 500-member House of Representatives in choosing the prime minister who must receive more than 50% of the combined vote. The source said some Pheu Thai members suggest that if the Democrat Party is serious about stopping the regime's protracted stay in power, it should vote for the candidates put forth by the Pheu Thai-led alliance for the House speaker and prime ministerial posts.
This group agrees that if Pheu Thai does not succeed in the prime ministerial vote it should at least respect the people's vote and take up the opposition's role, the source said, predicting the second Prayut administration will be short-lived.
"The party should take this chance to scrutinise the PPRP-led coalition and the regime's performance over the last five years.
"When new elections are called in the future, the PPRP will be in a difficult position and the Democrat Party may suffer a worse election result [if it joins the PPRP-led coalition]," said the source.
Both the Democrat and Bhumjaithai parties are expected to hold talks tomorrow to decide whether to join the PPRP-led coalition. It is reported they are using their combined number of 103 MPs as a way of increasing leverage to bargain for cabinet seats.
Democrat secretary-general Chalermchai Sri-on said the party's decision should be known in a few days and the election result will also be considered among the factors. Meanwhile, the Future Forward Party (FFP) yesterday declined to discuss the progress of its attempt to form a coalition government. FFP spokeswoman Pannika Wanich said the party would address the issue when there is some clarity.