The Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) has been thrown into disarray by a conflict between party leader Prawit Wongsuwon and its secretary-general Thamanat Prompow, who has threatened to leave the party after being excluded from the list of nominations for cabinet posts.
According to party sources, the pair are locking horns over who in the party should be nominated for ministerial positions as new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is negotiating the composition of her cabinet with coalition allies.
The sources said the party has a quota of four cabinet posts, and Gen Prawit has decided to nominate his younger brother, Pol Gen Phatcharavat Wongsuwan, for the post of natural resources and environment minister.
Caretaker Deputy Public Health Minister Santi Promphat was nominated for the agriculture and cooperatives portfolio held by Capt Thamanat in the previous government.
Former digital economy and society minister and deputy PPRP leader Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn was nominated for deputy public health minister while Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn was nominated for deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister, the post he held in the former administration of Srettha Thavisin, the sources said.
The PPRP's list of ministerial nominations has already been submitted to the ruling Pheu Thai Party, the sources said.
Capt Thamanat was upset that he had been excluded from the list, and he declared on Tuesday that he and a faction of 29 MPs would leave the PPRP.
However, the sources said some members of Capt Thamanat's faction are expected to join the new cabinet.
Capt Thamanat has been excluded from the PPRP's list of ministerial nominations as he may be deemed unfit to hold a cabinet post given his conviction and incarceration for a drug-related offence in Australia in the 1990s.
If Ms Paetongtarn appoints Capt Thamanat as a cabinet minister, she could face a petition seeking her dismissal, similar to her predecessor, Mr Srettha, who was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for an ethics violation for appointing ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as a PM's Office minister, the sources said.
Capt Thamanat said on Tuesday that he would not want to talk with Gen Prawit because the party leader had no use for him anymore.
"As he does not have any use for me anymore, I do not need to talk," Capt Thamanat said.
He said he had helped form the party and had worked for it for six years, and he had served "one person and one party long enough".
"It's time for me to step back without getting into any disputes with anyone … It's time for me to declare my freedom.
"From now on, I am ready to leave, with other members, for a place where there is happiness," Capt Thamanat said.
He said he had planned a lunch with like-minded people at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Tuesday.
Capt Thamanat claims to have control over 29 of the 40 MPs in the PPRP, while the coalition parties together have more than 300 MPs in the 500-seat House.
Asked how many MPs there were under his control, Capt Thamanat said the answer would be known shortly.
"Let's say that we separate ourselves clearly. But I won't ruin the nation or the government," he said.
Asked if he was excluded from the PPRP's ministerial nominations list, Capt Thamanat said that was just speculation. The prime minister does not have to follow the party's nomination lineup.
Capt Thamanat served four years in an Australian prison after being convicted on March 31, 1994, of conspiring to import heroin into Australia. He was sentenced to six years in jail, served four years and was deported upon his release. He denies the offence and has told the parliament it was only "flour".
Meanwhile, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely believed to be Pheu Thai's de facto leader, on Tuesday denied reports that he met Gen Prawit to clear the air over the formation of the new cabinet.
Asked if the conflict between Gen Prawit and Capt Thamanat would delay the formation of a new government, Thaksin said Pheu Thai has set up a panel to screen nominations for cabinet posts.
Asked to comment on which faction within the PPRP between the one led by Gen Prawit and another led by Capt Thamanat is fit to join the new government, Thaksin said the one that contributes most to the government.
