Anutin says Bhum Jai Thai could be Pheu Thai ally
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A banned politician with influence over the opposition Bhum Jai Thai Party yesterday did not rule out the possibility of the party becoming an ally of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
Anutin Chanweerakul, however, dismissed speculation that Bhum Jai Thai would return to the Pheu Thai fold.
“Bhum Jai Thai politicians are like siblings. There are no reasons for us to go elsewhere. Most of us come from Pheu Thai Party. In constituencies, there are no places left. Return to Pheu Thai, and you could cause conflict,” Anutin said.
“Regarding political alliance, we are open. We are part of the opposition but we do not oppose blindly. That is not our nature,” he said.
Anutin, whose five-year political ban expires in May, is among 111 former executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party deprived of their electoral rights for five years by a court order for electoral fraud.
Anutin yesterday denied he had met Pheu Thai’s “big boss” Thaksin Shinawatra during his recent trip to South Korea. He said he and his wife were on a sightseeing tour of South Korea and happened to stay in the same hotel as Thaksin at the same time.
“I didn’t meet Thaksin in Korea. We just happened to stay in the same hotel, which is very big. I stayed there for only one night,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan yesterday dismissed speculation Thaksin would return to Thailand as early as the Songkran festival next month.
Jatuporn said he met Thaksin somewhere overseas recently, and “he did not want things to be rushed. He understands well about the political situation”.
His fellow red-shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana claimed recently that Northeastern red shirts would accompany Thaksin from Laos into Thailand when Thaksin was in the neighbouring country during the Songkran festival. Jatuporn said yesterday there were many factors that would prevent that claim from materialising.
“The government is just in its early stages. We have to be careful and avoid giving enemies any excuse for overthrowing the government,” he said.
Pheu Thai leader Yongyuth Wichaidit yesterday said party MPs would have the freedom to meet Thaksin in Laos during his stay there next month. “I miss him but I have no time to go there. I have many problems for which I want to seek his advice,” said Yongyuth, who is also deputy prime minister and interior minister.
