Warong blames ‘Captain Abhisit’ for sinking Democrat ship
Losing Democrat MP candidate Warong Dechgitvigrom on Monday blamed the “captain of the ship” for the party sinking in the election. Warong, who had earlier failed to unseat Abhisit Vejjajiva as Democrat leader in a party election, posted on his Facebook that it was time the party underwent a real change.
Without taking any names in the post, Warong made it obvious he was referring to Abhist, who on Sunday night resigned as party leader after it became clear the Democrats would win fewer than 100 House seats. When Abhisit was re-elected Democrat leader after overcoming a challenge by Warong, he had promised to resign if the party failed to win at least 100 MP seats.
In the post, Warong said it was obvious that the captain had made many mistakes in steering the Democrat ship.
"This time, the ship did not just have ruptures or a damaged hull, but the entire ship sank, becoming a wreckage.
Warong said the captain made wrong decisions in setting the ship's course.
"He did not fight with the old enemy but he made a new enemy, who he should have allied with. He played the game of others while we did not have enough force. So, he infuriated the audience who have the power to vote. Eventually, the people punished us," Warong said in the post.
Before the election Abhisit had announced that he would not support Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the prime ministerial candidate of the Phalang Pracharat, for the PM’s post.
Warong said several warriors on board the Democrat ship could anticipate the damage, but it was not appropriate for them to speak out during the time of the war. He said the warriors on board the ship quietly tried to help the party salvage the situation.
"But the magnitude of the damage caused by the mistake was so huge that we lost warriors in all regions and even in Bangkok," the post said.
"Although the captain and his team survived, they survived at the cost of the political lives of several friends on this ship wreckage. Now, it's time that we must not care of one another's feelings. We must overhaul the attitude and the way of work of the party."
Warong ended his post by calling on Democrats to stop nepotism and to open their hearts to those who have different opinions.
Warong himself was unseated in Phitsanulok’s Constituency 1 by a new-face candidate of the Future Forward Party, Padipat Santipada.