The ruling Pheu Thai Party is set to exclude the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) from the new coalition government amid expectations that a new cabinet will be finalised by the end of the week.
After Tuesday's MP party meeting, Pheu Thai secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong said the MPs concluded that the party's executive committee will be asked to leave the PPRP out of the new coalition government.
Mr Sorawong said party MPs were unhappy about the PPRP's actions, particularly its leader, Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, who failed to appear during a vote to elect Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister in the House on Aug 16.
Asked whether the opposition Democrat Party will be invited to join the coalition, Mr Sorawong said Pheu Thai will need to gather enough support from several parties to bolster the government's stability.
Apart from the Democrat Party, there are a number of parties that may be courted to join the new government, including six renegade MPs from the opposition Thai Sang Thai Party who voted for Ms Paetongtarn as prime minister, Mr Sorawong said.
Sources at Pheu Thai said that Gen Prawit failed to show up for the vote to elect Ms Paetongtarn as prime minister, and for the vote to elect Srettha Thavisin as premier last year.
The MPs also suspected Gen Prawit might have been behind the move by a group of 40 senators to petition the Constitutional Court to dismiss Mr Srettha for appointing former convict Pichit Chuenban as a PM's Office minister, sources have said.
Ms Paetongtarn said on Tuesday that the formation of a new cabinet has yet to be completed because the PPRP is still struggling with internal problems.
"So we have to wait for a while," she said, adding that she will have the final say on who will become cabinet ministers.
"Background checks are being conducted on candidates for cabinet posts," she said.
A policy statement has already been prepared to be announced in parliament when the appointment of new ministers is royally endorsed, she said.
As a coalition partner, the PPRP has nominated the same four MPs in the last government to serve as ministers in the new Pheu Thai-led cabinet.
It said if the ruling party deems any of the four ineligible, the PPRP said it will find replacements.
Caretaker Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister and party secretary-general Capt Thamanat Prompow claimed he could not attend the party's meeting last Friday because he had a more important function to be at.
Capt Thamanat added that he was in Phayao and Chiang Rai to help flood victims.
Despite the obvious rift between Capt Thamanat and Gen Prawit, which was reportedly sparked by their differences of opinion about who should be nominated as new cabinet ministers in the PPRP's quota, Capt Thamanat said he did not submit a separate list of nominated PPRP MPs to Pheu Thai.
Rumour has it that Capt Thamanat was in talks with a key faction in the opposition Democrat Party about a possible deal which might earn both sides some cabinet seats, a claim he has denied.
Media reports suggested Capt Thamanat was first axed from the list to be nominated to Pheu Thai due to his questionable eligibility, which reportedly resulted in the rift between him and Gen Prawit.
Phumtham Wechayachai, who became acting prime minister following Mr Srettha's dismissal by the Constitutional Court, previously said the new cabinet line-up is expected to be ready by the end of the week.
When the line-up is finalised, it will be submitted to His Majesty the King for royal endorsement.
