By Naya JittanonThe Nation
Published on October 13, 2010
Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured), patriarch of the Pheu Thai Party, told opposition MPs yesterday to wait until the House of Representatives is dissolved before unveiling its candidate for the next prime minister.
The former premier, who fled abroad to avoid jail after being convicted of a conflict of interest, told a meeting of Pheu Thai MPs via a video link from an unspecified location overseas that he felt the party had six candidates who would make a suitable PM.
"In the current situation, we should not introduce our candidate to become prime minister in order to prevent that person from becoming the target of [political] attacks. We should wait until the House is dissolved," Thaksin was quoted by a source as saying.
Thaksin gave his video-link talk to more than 30 Pheu Thai MPs late yesterday afternoon. The session lasted almost an hour.
During the session, some MPs asked about rumours he had health problems. He reportedly said the rumours were groundless and insisted he was still healthy. "Now I want to return to Thailand because I miss home a lot," he was quoted as saying.
He told the MPs they could phone him if they had any problems.
Thaksin said he was devising a policy platform for Pheu Thai to be used during its campaign ahead of the next general election. He said the focus would be on creating income for people and solving economic problems.
He expressed hope Pheu Thai would win the election and make its return to government - and urged party MPs to be patient.
"Don't believe the rumour that I will allow 50 [Pheu Thai] MPs to join the government. I definitely won't do that," he was reported saying.
Earlier, Pheu Thai MPs from different regions held meetings separately to discuss the political situation. They believed that if the ruling Democrat Party was dissolved by a court order next month, an early general election would be inevitable.
It was agreed that Pheu Thai would come up with candidates to be PM and Thaksin would choose who would be the party candidate.
Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured), patriarch of the Pheu Thai Party, told opposition MPs yesterday to wait until the House of Representatives is dissolved before unveiling its candidate for the next prime minister.
The former premier, who fled abroad to avoid jail after being convicted of a conflict of interest, told a meeting of Pheu Thai MPs via a video link from an unspecified location overseas that he felt the party had six candidates who would make a suitable PM.
"In the current situation, we should not introduce our candidate to become prime minister in order to prevent that person from becoming the target of [political] attacks. We should wait until the House is dissolved," Thaksin was quoted by a source as saying.
Thaksin gave his video-link talk to more than 30 Pheu Thai MPs late yesterday afternoon. The session lasted almost an hour.
During the session, some MPs asked about rumours he had health problems. He reportedly said the rumours were groundless and insisted he was still healthy. "Now I want to return to Thailand because I miss home a lot," he was quoted as saying.
He told the MPs they could phone him if they had any problems.
Thaksin said he was devising a policy platform for Pheu Thai to be used during its campaign ahead of the next general election. He said the focus would be on creating income for people and solving economic problems.
He expressed hope Pheu Thai would win the election and make its return to government - and urged party MPs to be patient.
"Don't believe the rumour that I will allow 50 [Pheu Thai] MPs to join the government. I definitely won't do that," he was reported saying.
Earlier, Pheu Thai MPs from different regions held meetings separately to discuss the political situation. They believed that if the ruling Democrat Party was dissolved by a court order next month, an early general election would be inevitable.
It was agreed that Pheu Thai would come up with candidates to be PM and Thaksin would choose who would be the party candidate.
No comments:
Post a Comment