Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on has announced that he will step down as the Democrat Party’s secretary-general once the party selects its new leader and executives on July 13. His decision comes after Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit resigned as party leader following disappointing results from the May 14 election, in which the party secured fewer House seats than anticipated.
Chalermchai said the decision to choose a younger person as the party’s new leader would be left to a party committee to decide during the planned general assembly. He also addressed the possibility of the Democrat Party forming a political alliance with the Pheu Thai party if the Move Forward Party fails to garner sufficient support from members of parliament to establish a new coalition government, saying any such deal would require formal party resolution support.
Once he steps down as secretary-general, Chalermchai intends to become a general member of the party. He also refuted rumors suggesting that the Democrats have already held discussions with Pheu Thai and agreed to join their alleged bid to form a new government.
Deputy Interior Minister Naris Khamnurak, a former Democrat MP for Phatthalung, also dismissed rumors of a secret deal, noting that the Democrat Party makes all significant decisions through formal party resolutions. He added that no proposal of this nature has been made or discussed, and that the party must wait for the Election Commission to certify all 25 of its elected MPs, as they comprise 70% of the party’s new board members.
Concerning future reforms, Naris indicated that the party would need to analyze the reasons behind its poor performance in securing House seats before determining the extent to which younger members would be promoted to executive or leadership positions. (NNT)
