The Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) is ready to align itself with any other party, including Pheu Thai, after the May 14 general election as long as they share similar policies, Deputy Prime Minister and party leader Prawit Wongsuwon said.
However, he emphasised that his party will not support any move to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese majeste law.
Gen Prawit was speaking during an interview with television host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda.
Asked about earlier remarks by deputy PPRP leader Paiboon Nititawan that the PPRP would not enter into any alliance with Pheu Thai or the Move Forward Party, Gen Prawit said Mr Paiboon had given him an explanation.
"He told me he meant to say that if parties hold different policies and are not able to settle on certain matters, such as constitutional amendments, they would not be able to work together.''
Regardless of what Mr Paiboon said, the matter must first go before the party committee for a final decision, Gen Prawit said.
"My position is clear. No amendment to Section 112 [the lese majeste law]. It must not be touched. As for Pheu Thai, if our policies are compatible, I would have no objection to them. We could join hands with them," Gen Prawit said.
He also denied having reached a deal of any sort with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "We have never met or talked," he said, adding that he never asked for a government position from him, as Mr Thaksin had reportedly said.
Gen Prawit also denied a report that the PPRP had struck a deal with Deputy Prime Minister and Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul to back Gen Prawit as prime minister after the next poll.
Quizzed whether he has any deal with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Gen Prawit admitted he did reach a deal with Gen Prayut.
Under the deal, if either the PPRP or the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party wins the most House seats, that party will be the main driver in forming a government, Gen Prawit said.
''If the prime minister [Gen Prayut] wins more House seats than me, he will form the government first, and vice versa,'' Gen Prawit said.
''The prime minister knows this. I discussed the matter with him myself,'' Gen Prawit said. Gen Prayut now serves as chief of the UTN's strategy committee as well as its prime ministerial candidate.
Gen Prawit said the number of MPs each party gets in the election would be a decisive factor and insisted he will not settle for a minority government.
"If my party wins 251 House seats, we will not seek any coalition partners. If we have fewer than 251, that's another matter. But one thing that is certain is that PPRP will not be a minority government.
"To join hands with other parties in forming a government coalition, we need to take into consideration their policies. We will not join with any party that has conflicting policies or ideologies," Gen Prawit said. Asked about his relationship with Gen Prayut, Gen Prawit said they were still brothers-in-arms. But in politics, they now pursue their own paths, he said.
Asked whether there would be another military coup, Gen Prawit said: "If I were prime minister, I don't think anybody would stage a coup."
To the question of why he, at the age of 78, agreed to be the party's candidate for prime minister, Gen Prawit said it was a party resolution. "True, I am already old. I may walk slowly, but I am quick in thinking and giving orders and instructions. One more thing, I do not have a family. I don't want anything more for myself. I can comfortably work for the people," he said.
