The former party of outgoing prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, United Thai Nation (UTN), has said it will join the Pheu Thai-led coalition and will conclude “details of coalition participation” before the vote for prime minister.
The party had only one condition and that was that Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the lese-majeste law) would not be amended, UTN spokesman Akaradet Wongpitakrote said on Thursday. Pheu Thai accepted the condition, he added.
He denied that UTN was demanding the energy minister’s position from Pheu Thai. From now until Tuesday, when the prime ministerial vote is scheduled to be held, there would be negotiations on the “details of coalition participation”, Mr Akaradet said.
“Our 36 votes are ready to support the prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai Party. We want the quick formation of the government. We want to create reconciliation,” he added.
Should Pheu Thai formally confirm the addition of UTN, it would represent a major about-face after pledges by its key figures that it would not team up with any “uncles” — a reference to Gen Prayut, who led the 2014 coup against a Pheu Thai administration, and his longtime brother-in-arms Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, leader of the 40-member Palang Pracharath Party.
It has been speculated that Pheu Thai will also seek the support of Palang Pracharath to give the coalition a healthy majority in excess of 300 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives.
In any case, Pheu Thai has said that it will not make any cabinet offers before the vote, despite new allies including the 71-seat Bhumjaithai Party insisting that they need assurances about what to expect. Rumours have circulated that the allies have tentatively agreed that each party will receive one cabinet seat for every nine House seats it holds.
UTN was formed specifically as a vehicle for Gen Prayut to continue in office. He never joined the party but served as its adviser and one of two prime ministerial candidates, in addition to party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga.
UTN won just 23 constituency seats in the May 14 election, but the prime minister’s personal popularity among conservative voters helped the party win 4.7 million list votes — third behind Move Forward (14.4 million) and Pheu Thai (10.9 million). As a result, it received 13 list seats for a total of 36.
However, it soon became clear that Gen Prayut was unlikely to emerge as a favourite to be nominated for the premiership, and he announced that he would quit politics as soon as a new government is formed.
Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai, meanwhile, said on Thursday that his party was continuing to discuss coalition participation with other parties including UTN.
So far, he said, the negotiations had not touched on allocation of ministries. At this stage, allies agreed that they would join forces to solve crises and resolve conflicts and their cooperation would be good, Mr Phumtham said.
He expressed confidence that the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate, expected to be property billionaire Srettha Thavisin, would win a majority vote in the combined sitting of the House and the Senate.
The structure of the Pheu Thai coalition would be announced by Monday next week, Mr Phumtham added.
Tuesday’s sitting will be the third attempt at choosing a prime minister. Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed to secure a majority vote on July 13, and parliament rejected a bid to renominate him on July 19.