Move Forward dissolution bid part of Thaksin’s secret deal

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

A PREMEDITATED ATTEMPT TOWARD a dissolution of the Move Forward has been known as an ultimate part of a secret deal earlier made between de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole Thaksin Shinawatra and the powers-that-be, according to a partisan source.

The secret deal which had evidently seen the de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict return home without being literally put behind bars for a single day for his court-convicted misconduct in office, the jaw-dropping setup of a Pheu Thai-led coalition government and the successful naming of former real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as head of government was believed to involve as a pivotal part the sought-after dissolution of the Move Forward, said the partisan source who only spoke on condition of anonymity.

The unidentified powers-that-be had had unabated fears that the de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole might probably manage to reset the Pheu Thai-led coalition sooner or later to the extent that the Move Forward be finally included as replacement for a few ultra-conservative camps, such as the Bhumjaithai under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, the Palang Pracharath led by former deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan and the Ruam Thai Sang Chart under de facto party boss/former coup leader-turned-prime minister/now privy councillor Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Those ultra-conservative camps might probably be kicked out of the Pheu Thai-led coalition government as soon as in the next few months if the Move Forward survived the legal battle launched in the Election Commission’s lawsuit in pursuit of the progressive party’s dissolution at an order of the Constitutional Court, the partisan source said.

The powers-that-be would undoubtedly prefer Thaksin constantly keep the Move Forward at bay until the progressive party has been disbanded by court whilst the de facto Pheu Thai boss himself had apparently held grudges over his camp’s defeats in last year’s general election, rendering the Pheu Thai the second largest camp after the Move Forward in terms of the number of elected lawmakers. Talking with his men on a live podcast from abroad last year, Thaksin enviously called the vote-winning Move Forward electoral campaigns an IO (information operations) campaign.

“The powers-that-be would not care about the possibility that anyone among the current coalition partners might emerge as prime minister other than Srettha after all 250 senators have completed their five-year term on May 11.

“That’s simply not the case. The only thing that they desperately craved for is a lasting phenomenon in which the Move Forward will never exist in government, period,” the partisan source said.

Under the coup junta-designed constitution of 2017, the coup junta-appointed senators are unprecedentedly empowered to join ranks with the elected MPs in voting for head of government. The future senators will no longer have such privileges in picking a prime minister.

The Pheu Thai had been earlier taken to task by members of the public including those who had voted for Thaksin’s camp and partisan candidates in the polls for evidently doublecrossing the Move Forward in initial, unfruitful attempts to set up a post-election coalition government with 250 coup junta-named senators, mostly loyal to Prayut, scrambling to help with the secret deal by joining the Pheu Thai-led alliance of MPs in casting overwhelming yea votes for Srettha as prime minister.

The Move Forward has been accused of having conducted moves toward amendment to the lese majeste law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which the ultra-conservative powers-that-be invariably deemed as an act of totally undermining rule in relation to the monarchy though the Constitutional Court had earlier judged such alleged moves as equivalent to a “corrosive” act which could possibly lead to an undermining of rule over time and ordered for the progressive party to immediately put an end to it.

In another development, Thaksin is more or less expected to meet with Srettha tomorrow (Mar. 16) somewhere in the deposed prime minister’s northern home province of Chiang Mai.

High-level government officials including Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao and deputy police chief Pol. Gen. Surachate Hakparn enthusiastically received Thaksin, accompanied by his daughter/Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, among others during his “private” visit to a water reservoir project yesterday.

The agriculture minister-cum-Palang Pracharath secretary-general told reporters he had officially taken leave from work to literally go on an inspection tour of the Chiang Mai project.

Former Democrat MP Thepthai Senapong posted on his Facebook page today to sardonically conclude that Thailand would be the only one country in the world where a convict on parole was warmly welcomed by those high-level government official

CAPTION:

Top and Front Page: Composite photo showing de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, left, and former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, right. Credit: Thai Rath

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