Prayut ‘still has close ties with rival Prawit’, challenges Thaksin to return to face justice

Prayut told reporters that he still had close ties with Prawit although they were contesting for the post of prime minister from different parties.

Prayut also challenged former prime minister and fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra to return to face justice after the Pheu Thai patriarch said during a recent online talk show that he would return to Thailand this year.

Prayut will contest to retain his PM’s seat in the May 14 election by standing as prime minister candidate of the United Thai Nation Party (UTNP) while his mentor and comrade in arms, Prawit, is contesting for the top government post as the Palang Pracharath Party’s PM candidate.

Prawit was once Prayut’s mentor in the powerful Eastern Tigers faction of the Royal Thai Army. Prayut also brought in Prawit to help him seize power in 2014.

The two generals were seen giggling when they put their heads close to each other during their meeting in the Kilawes 2 Building of the Thai-Japanese Youth Centre where Bangkok’s constituency candidates were registered.

“It’s normal talk,” Prayut told reporters later. “We are not opponents. He is just doing his duty and I’m doing mine. Now, we are in different parties. Don’t ask whether we’ll join again [in the same party] in the future or not. I’ve parted, so be it.”

Prayut became grim when a reporter asked him to comment on Thaksin’s announcement that he would return to Thailand this year.

Prayut replied that no one was preventing Thaksin from returning as long as he would serve his jail terms.

“I’ll talk to him only if he enters the judicial process after his return. Let him return to be tried by a court and I’ll talk to him. How can I talk to a fugitive?” Prayut replied.

Thaksin fled Thailand on August 11, 2008 and went into exile in Britain after skipping bail and claiming he could not get a fair trial on a raft of corruption charges because of political inference.

On his decision not to stand in party-list election, Prayut said it was not true that he was afraid of having to do his duty in Parliament as some critics have said.

Prayut said he has only two years left to serve as prime minister — as per a Constitutional Court ruling — hence he would like UTNP leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga to be elected as the first UTNP party-list MP and continue his policies after he leaves the post of PM.

Prayut added that he could serve as Piraphan’s adviser after his term ends.

Prayut also said that he had set a goal for his party to sweep the majority of House seats so that it could form a single-party government.

But most opinion surveys showed that the UTNP has very low popular rating and is well behind Pheu Thai, Move Forward and other parties.