Muslim politicians in deep South announce new party ‘Pracha Chat’
The Wadah group of Muslim politicians, as well as other former MPs in the three southernmost border provinces, have agreed to form a new political party to contest the next election, a member said on Monday.
Najmuddeen Uma, a former Matubhum Party MP for Narathiwat, said the group was in the process of compiling a list of at least 500 co-founders for the new party, as required by law.
Their new party would be registered under the name “Pracha Chat”, which literally means “nation”, he said.
The politician said a recent survey of more than 1,000 local residents in the Muslim-majority southern border provinces found that about 70 per cent of respondents agreed that Muslim politicians should have their own political party.
“We discussed this matter with former MPs from the Wadah group and former MPs in the three southern border provinces from other political parties. And they agreed with the idea,” Najmuddeen said.
He also said the new party would take a neutral stance regarding the ongoing conflict in the deep South, which has left thousands of people dead following attacks by insurgents.
“We see that nobody else knows the problem better than us,” he said, adding that the Wadah group had previously implemented many policies to tackle problems in the region.