Party to mark end of political ban
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Former executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party plan a grand celebration to mark the end of their five-year ban from politics on May 30, one of them said yesterday.
Vichit Plangsrisakul, secretary general of the Thai Rak Thai 111 Foundation, said the banned politicians would take part in a religious ceremony on that day and release 111 pigeons, in events planned by the foundation.
A party would be held in the evening on May 30 at the Miracle Hotel, where the former party executives would make speeches for five to 10 minutes each, according to Vichit. He is one of the banned politicians who are collectively known as the Group of 111.
He expected former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a founder and former Thai Rak Thai leader, to phone in from abroad during the party.
“He has been invited to make a phone-in. We want him to phone in because he is one of the 111 executives,” Vichit said.
On May 30, 2007, the Constitution Court disbanded the Thai Rak Thai Party for electoral fraud and banned its 111 executive members from political activities for five years.
Members of the Group of 111 now in other political parties have also been invited to join the event, including Somsak Thepsuthin and Newin Chidchob, who are both linked to the opposition Bhum Jai Thai Party. Some, however, such as Newin, have not made it clear if they would come, Vichit said.
Many in the Group of 111 would apply to become members of the ruling Pheu Thai Party on June 1, Vichit said. However, he could not confirm if some of them would become members of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is Thaksin’s younger sister.
“That’s a matter for the future. I can’t say now if some of the Group of 111 will be approached to become Cabinet members. We are ready to work for the Pheu Thai Party but we will not try to snatch Cabinet seats [from current ministers].”
Vichit spoke before yesterday’s football matches at the National Stadium pariticipated by MPs, senators, Cabinet members, entertainers, and journalists.
Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, who is the Pheu Thai leader, said he did not think the football matches were a “curtain raiser” for the banned politicians’ future return to politics.
There had been no discussion within the ruling party about appointing certain people from the Group of 111 to become Cabinet members, he said.
Somsak, who is now linked to Bhum Jai Thai, yesterday dismissed speculation that he would become party leader after his ban ends on May 30. However, he did not rule out the possibility of his faction joining Pheu Thai.
Anucha Nakasai, another politician in the Group of 111 also linked to Bhum Jai Thai, said he was undecided on whether to join the events on May 30.
He said he had not made up his mind on whether to join Pheu Thai or Bhum Jai Thai after the political ban ends. Politicians in both parties were in fact from Thai Rak Thai, he noted.
