Former Democrat Party leaders should not wait to be asked to help the party out in the election campaign since it is their duty to help, said the party's patriarch, Chuan Leekpai.
In a radio interview on Mcot News FM 100.5 station on Saturday, Mr Chuan, who is also parliament president, said lending a hand to the party in times of need should be considered a duty.
On Tuesday, Democrat leader Jurin Laksanawisit announced he was approaching his predecessors, Mr Chuan, Abhisit Vejjajiva and Banyat Bantadtan to be Democrat list MP candidates.
Mr Jurin made the announcement amid calls by deputy party leader, Sathit Pitutecha, for the Democrats to let the former leaders assume active roles in campaign rallies to shore up the party's waning popularity. He also suggested the party put down Mr Abhisit's name as its second prime ministerial candidate, after Mr Jurin.
However, Niphon Bunyamanee, another deputy leader of the Democrats, said the party had passed a resolution earlier naming Mr Jurin as its sole candidate. That decision stands unless an internal regulation is amended to override the previous resolution and makes the nomination of a second candidate possible.
On Thursday, Mr Abhisit, emerging from the party assembly, said Mr Jurin had not come to him to seek his help with the campaign. "I'll also have to consider if the party's goals are on the same page as mine," he said.
Mr Chuan said: "It's a shared responsibility and obligation to the party that we come to its aid, especially when its popularity has dropped.
"Some party members might be rattled by the [difficult] situation the party finds itself in and stopped fighting. But for us, the longstanding members, we are ready to go out there and beat the odds without being asked to do it. It's a duty," Mr Chuan said.
He added it was a way of paying the party back. "I believe both Mr Banyat and Mr Abhisit harbour such a conscience," Mr Chuan said.
But such conscience might be lacking in people whose sole interest was to save their own skin. "When the party leader isn't popular, they ditch the party," Mr Chuan said, adding true party members are bound by the spirit and resolve to keep working for the party through thick and thin.
The more people leave the party, the harder the remaining members must work to fill the voids left by such defectors. The Democrats have lost several of its former MPs to other parties, including the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party and Bhumjaithai.