The leading party in Thailand's first post-coup election
declared Monday that it has secured enough support from minor
parties to form a coalition government, while the Election
Commission told parties to get ready for a by-election on Jan. 13
if electoral cheating allegations against winning MP candidates
were confirmed.
Secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee of the People Power Party
(PPP) said Monday that after negotiations, the PPP has settled an
alliance with some other parties to secure a majority of 280 to 290
MP seats in the 480-member House of Representatives to form a
coalition government.
Surapong said the party would not reveal now which parties the
PPP is to form a coalition with, but rather wait until the official
voting results is confirmed by the Election Commission (EC).
It is not yet clear how many yellow or red cards the EC will
issue to disqualify some winning MP candidates on electoral fraud
allegations, which might alter the parties' positions, noted
Surapong.
Surapong said the PPP planned to announce the coalition after
Jan. 3, the deadline for the EC to announce the official
results.
The latest unofficial voting results as counted by the EC showed
that PPP has 232 out of the total 480 parliament seats while its
major rival Democrat Party gets 165 seats.
They were followed by Chart Thai (Thai Nation) Party, which wins
37 seats, Puea Pandin (For the Motherland) Party with 25 seats,
Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana (Thais United National Development)
Party with nine, Matchima Thipataya (Neutral Democratic Party)
which gets seven, and Pracharaj (Royal People) Party with five
seats.
However, EC chairman Apichart Sukhagghanond said the latest
unofficial results announced on Monday is close to the official
results. So, "if the winning political party wants to form a
government, it could proceed without having to wait for the EC," he
added.
Apichart said by-elections will be held on Jan. 13 in
constituencies where elected MP candidates were found guilty of
electoral cheating and disqualified.
Apichart would begin from Tuesday investigating complaints of
alleged electoral frauds, meanwhile issuing verification for
election results in constituencies where no complaints were
lodged.
Hopefully the entire process will be finished in 30 days for the
new parliament to commence, said Apichart.
Suthep Tueksuban, secretary-general of the Democrat Party has
questioned the PPP's claim about securing enough seats for a
coalition government, citing that the PPP is facing the EC's
investigations on alleged election cheating complaints, most of
which were pointed at PPP candidates.
The credibility of the votes won by PPP as shown in unofficial
results remained dubious, said Suthep, "Under such circumstances,
no other parties will haste to join a coalition with the PPP."
Although assuring a lead in the election, the PPP, seen as a
nominee party for Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by a military
coup in September last year, still fell a couple of seats short of
a simple majority required to form a single-party government.
Therefore it needs to persuade smaller parties to form a coalition
government.
PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrajang earlier on Monday said his party
would confer with Chart Thai Party and Puea Pandin Party in forming
a coalition government.
Banharn Silpaarcha, leader of Chart Thai Party and former prime
minister said late Sunday night that his party, one of Thailand's
veteran political parties, would ally with the young Puea Pandin
Party.
However, the 75-year-old seasoned politician remained
tight-lipped as to which of the top two parties -- the PPP or the
Democrat Party -- the Chart Thai-Puea Pandin alliance would join in
forming a coalition government.
Meanwhile, Puea Pandin spokesman Watchiramon Gunakasemthanawat
admitted that the PPP party led by Samak Sundaravej had contacted
the party Sunday night about forming a coalition government but not
much progress was made.
He also denied his party has agreed to join forces with Chart
Thai, but would rather wait for clarity on EC's decision on whether
to issue red and yellow cards to nullify some winning MP candidates
on electoral cheating charges, before deciding on which side to
choose.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2007)
