Pheu Thai Party says no Cabinet seats for Palang Pracharath MPs

Pheu Thai Party MPs met yesterday and agreed to remove members of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) from the new Cabinet.

Former Pheu Thai Party Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai recently revealed that the new Cabinet would be established by the end of August, now only three days away.

Phumtham disclosed that some former coalition parties have already submitted the names of members who wish to secure seats in the Cabinet, while others have not done so due to various issues.

The party with an issue is suspected to be the PPRP, as Prawit Wongsuwan announced that he would not propose leading member Thamanat Prompow for the new Cabinet list.

This announcement by the party leader prompted Thamanat to step forward and declare his independence. Thamanat stated that he would leave the PPRP but emphasised that he had no disputes with any members. He mentioned that he had served one person in the party for too long and it was time for him to move on.

In addition to Thamanat, another 26 PPRP MPs decided to leave the party to align themselves with him.

This separation sparked rumours that PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra would not include members from Prawit’s faction in her new Cabinet but this information had not been confirmed until yesterday, August 27.

MPs from the Pheu Thai Party held a meeting about new Cabinet members at Shinawatra 3 Tower before holding a press conference an hour later. The Secretary-General of the party, Sorrawong Thienthong, announced that the party’s executive committee had voted not to join the government with the PPRP.

Sorrawong stated that he could not yet confirm the names of the Cabinet members but the Pheu Thai Party would hold discussions with Thamanat and other MPs in his group, as these MPs have always cooperated with the Pheu Thai Party.

According to Sorrawong, there will also be discussions with MPs from the Democrat Party, who were former members of opposition parties, to invite them to join the coalition government.