Jatuporn 'forgives' Chalong as the two reconcile

Tension between the two arose after Chalong said last week that appointing Jatuporn – a core red-shirt leader – to the Cabinet would be unfair to MPs from the Central region. He also mentioned the lese majeste charges that Jatuporn faced. 

 

Chalong also said that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra might feel uneasy about having to explain why she appointed a man who was involved in the 2010 unrest and the “burning of the city”.

 

Jatuporn responded by saying that he forgave Chalong, adding that his red-shirt supporters were rallying against Chalong because they were his (Jatuporn’s) true friends. 

 

Apiwan, who is also a key red-shirt leader, said he helped ease tensions between the two by telling Chalong that the Cabinet seats were not being used as rewards for any particular group, and that the reshuffle was entirely up to the premier. He also said that he backed Chalong’s support for party-list MP and former commerce minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan because he was a capable man. 

 

Asked if senior members of the party had encouraged the reconciliation, Jatuporn said there were no points of contention now that the Department of Special Investigation had dropped the lese majeste charge against him.

 

On Thursday, the DSI announced that the video clip used as evidence against Jatuporn was distorted and insufficient to press lese majeste charges against him. The MP said that though the DSI planned to hand the case over to the Office of the Attorney-General, he was not worried because once it is proved that the clip was doctored, the case would be over. 

 

Meanwhile, about a hundred red-shirt supporters from Nonthaburi province gathered outside Parliament yesterday to demand that Chalong resign as Nonthaburi MP. They said they were upset by his allegations that the reds were responsible for “burning” the city, especially since they were the ones who had cast their ballots to elect him as MP.