
The head of Pheu Thai Party MPs says a critic's request for the party's dissolution for alleged domination by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ill-informed and wrong.
Wisuth Chainarun said on Monday he was aware that someone had asked the Election Commission to seek Pheu Thai's dissolution by the Constitutional Court. The complainant alleged the coalition-core party had allowed itself to be dominated by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was not a party member.
Mr Wisuth, a list MP, said domination meant the party accepting and following orders, such as the selection of its prime ministerial candidate.
It was earlier reported that Thaksin had recommended Chaikasem Nitisiri for prime minister, but Pheu Thai MPs finally settled on and nominated party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr Wisuth said.
Ms Paetongtarn, who was subsequently elected prime minister by the House of Representatives, is Thaksin's youngest child. She turned 38 on Aug 21.
“I do not see former prime minister Thaksin giving any orders to the party. Whenever he sat in on party meetings he has never given any orders. In his interviews he gives his personal opinions, in his capacity as a knowledgeable former prime minister. Whether the party follows what he says is a different matter,” Mr Wisuth said.
Ms Paetongtarn did not respond to reporters' questions when she arrived at Shinawatra Tower 3, which functions as party headquarters, in Bangkok on Monday morning.
It was reported that a person who asked for anonymity filed a request for the party's dissolution with the Election Commission on Aug 19, accusing Pheu Thai of letting an outsider dominate it.
The complaint referred to the Organic Act on Political Parties, under which it is illegal for a person who is not a member to control, dominate or instruct party activities in a way that causes the party or its members to be directly or indirectly dependent.