Deputy Prime Minister and Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Prawit Wongsuwon has downplayed reports of party MPs seeking to defect to the United Thai Nation Party (UTN), saying the two parties are "like one".
Gen Prawit also brushed aside a report of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha severing ties with the PPRP, saying: "Who said I am upset? I am not under any stress at all. No MPs are being taken away."
The reports said Gen Prayut, who was nominated as a PPRP candidate for prime minister in the previous election, is linking up with the UTN, also known as Ruam Thai Sang Chart, which is led by Pirapan Salirathavibhaga. It is said he will be its candidate for prime minister after the upcoming general election, and many PPRP MPs are likely to follow him to the new party.
On reports of PPRP MPs switching over to the UTN, Gen Prawit said: "That's alright. We are like the same party." But he gave no clear answer when asked whether the PPRP and UTN would forge a political alliance.
Gen Prawit also insisted that he is not in conflict with Gen Prayut, who is tipped to join the newly established party.
"Gen Prayut and I are like brothers. If he wants to go, so be it. No problem with me," he said, adding that if he and Gen Prayut parted ways, it did not mean they had broken up.
"We have been together for 40-50 years. How can we break up? You keep asking this every day. People should know that we have no conflict," he said.
Gen Prawit said he did not feel left out, saying: "I still have 200-300 party members who will stay and work together. The PPRP must remain a core party serving the country."
He refused to confirm Gen Prayut would definitely join the UTN. "I don't know. Go ask him," he said.
Gen Prawit was confident Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the digital economy and society (DES) minister, would stay with the PPRP. Mr Chaiwut left people guessing if he'd also join the UTN after he last week resigned as a PPRP party-list MP but remains as deputy party leader and DES minister.
"He will not go anywhere," said Gen Prawit, gesturing towards Mr Chaiwut, who was by his side at the time. "Only the media said he would move to another party."
Mr Chaiwut said on Monday that he resigned as a party-list MP to pave the way for another MP, Walaiporn Rattanasate, to move up the party list and replace him. He said Ms Walaiporn was capable and insisted that his resignation was not politically motivated. Asked by reporters whether he will decide to stay put or defect to the UTN to work with Gen Prayut, Mr Chaiwut said: "Let's wait and see how the premier will proceed first ... The path is still not clear. I am still the PPRP deputy leader and will carry out my duty to the best of my ability."
Meanwhile, Pongsin Senpong, a former Democrat Party poll candidate for Nakhon Si Thammarat, on Monday tendered his resignation as a party member and applied to be a UTN member. He said he moved to the new party following reports that Gen Prayut is tipped to join it as well. Previously, a UTN source said Gen Prayut is tipped to become the party's chief adviser and its first candidate for prime minister while the party's leader, Mr Pirapan, would be the second prime ministerial candidate.
Last Wednesday, Gen Prayut said for the first time he was considering a move to join the UTN. Mr Pirapan had previously said the UTN would welcome Gen Prayut if he decided to leave the PPRP.
The UTN was founded in March last year by Seksakol Atthawong, a former aide to the prime minister, to back Gen Prayut's return as PM after the next election. The chances of Gen Prayut moving to the UTN increased after he reportedly met Gen Prawit at the office of the Foundation for the Conservation of Forests in Five Adjoining Provinces in the compound of the 1st Infantry Regiment in Bangkok on Nov 20. Gen Prayut is believed to have informed Gen Prawit of his plan to switch parties ahead of the upcoming general election.