Joining forces
October
30, 2007
I've been
following Thai politics closely since 1992 when I began
my second stay in this country and the two veteran politicians
in this story have been major players throughout. They've always
maintained friendly relations – at least in public –
so it is not terribly surprising to see them joining forces. The only
big surprise is that Maj-Gen Sanan Kachornprasart was willing to give
up the Mahachon party he founded.
The reasons he gave
are interesting and they certainly apply to other small parties. Expect
further mergers before the candidates are officially registered.
founded – started ก่อตั้ง
merger – the act of joining two or more organisations or businesses into one การรวมพรรค
candidates – people who are trying to be elected ผู้สมัคร
Sanan leads Mahachon to join Chart Thai party
Pracharaj holds merger talks with Puea PandinPOST REPORTERS
Photo:
Mahachon party founder Maj-Gen Sanan Kachornprasart, left, and Chart
Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa embrace for photographs after Maj-Gen
Sanan led 15 people to join the Chart Thai party. Political jockeying continued yesterday with Mahachon leader Sanan Kachornprasart leading his party members to join the Chart Thai party, saying his party was too small to survive under present political rules.
Fourteen key Mahachon members accompanied Maj-Gen Sanan to the Chart Thai headquarters yesterday. They included deputy leader Akapol Sorasuchart, party secretary-general Asawin Wipoosiri, Maj-Gen Sanan’s son Siriwat, and Pol Gen Prasarn Wongyai.
They applied for Chart Thai membership and received a warm welcome from Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpaarcha and key party members.
Maj-Gen Sanan and Mr Banharn embraced each other and exchanged kisses on the cheeks.
The new members received Chart Thai membership cards and jackets directly from Mr Banharn.
‘‘After the coup, I intended to keep Mahachon. When the constitution was promulgated and the organic laws and regulations of the EC [Election Commission] took effect, I think that we cannot make it as a small party.
‘‘We must accept the truth. Small parties are not at all welcomed by the [current] constitution,’’ he said.
Maj-Gen Sanan pointed to the change made to the proportional representation [party list] system as the problem leading to his decision to put an end to Mahachon.
In the previous two elections, only 5% of the total vote was required to win a seat under the proportional representation system. Now it’s 10% for the Dec 23 election, he said. As Mahachon could not field candidates nationwide, it would not have a chance to win even one party list seat, he added.
Maj-Gen Sanan said he chose to join Chart Thai because he had never been at odds with Mr Banharn, whom he respected more than any other politician.
Mr Banharn said he was delighted to work together with Maj-Gen Sanan, adding they had enjoyed over four decades ofa good relationship.
embrace – to put your arms around someone as a sign of love or friendship สวมกอด
jockeying – trying all possible ways of gaining an advantage over other people พลิกแพลง ฉวยโอกาส
survive – to continue to live or exist key เอาตัวรอด
accompany – to travel or go somewhere with someone ติดตามไป
headquarters – a place from which an organisation or military operation is controlled สำนักงานใหญ่ หรือที่ทำการพรรค
coup (d’etat) – the seizure of power over a country by a group of people, usually members of the armed forces รัฐประหาร
promulgated – (of a new law or system) publicly announced ประกาศ แถลง
organic laws – basic laws for governing a country, in this case, laws required by the constitution. กฎหมายต้นแบบ
current – of the present time ณ เวลานี้
proportional representation – a system that gives each party in an election a number of seats in relation to the number of votes its candidates receive ผู้แทนราษฎรแบบโควต้า
field – to provide a candidate to represent you in an election ส่งผู้สมัคร
at odds with – to disagree with someone about something ไม่ลงรอย
decade – a period of ten years ทศวรรษ
Mahachon had good human resources so the merger would help strengthen Chart Thai, Mr Banharn said.
But he added that it has yet to be decided what role Maj-Gen Sanan would play for Chart Thai.
Both Mr Banharn and Maj-Gen Sanan insisted the merger was unconditional and Maj-Gen Sanan was not expecting to get any position in particular.
Maj-Gen Sanan also called on Pracharaj party leader Sanoh Thienthong to join Chart Thai.
‘‘I’d like him to stay with me at Chart Thai so that there would be three senior members here,’’ he said.
However, Mr Sanoh’s wife Uraiwan Thienthong and Pracharaj member Suchart Bandasak yesterday held talks with Puea Pandin party executives about a possible merger.
Emerging from their meeting at a law office at CentralWorld Plaza, Mrs Uraiwan said no conclusion had been reached yet on the possible merger of Pracharaj and Puea Pandin. However, there should be a clear-cut answer by Nov 7 at the latest, she said.
She admitted some Pracharaj members might leave for Puea Pandin if there were no problems about overlapping constituencies. In that case, Pracharaj would still field its candidates for the Dec 23 general election.
stance – the opinions that someone has about something and expresses publicly; position จุดยืน
human resources – people’s skills and abilities ทรัพยากรมนุึษย์
role – function; position ตำแหน่ง หน้าที่
insisted – stated firmly that something is true ยืนกราน
unconditional – without any conditions (rules or decisions that someone must agree to before something is done) or limits อย่างไม่มีเงื่อนไข
emerging – coming out of a place ปรากฏ
conclusion – formal and final arrangement or decision ข้อสรุป
overlapping – covering the same area, in this case, an election district คาบเกี่ยว
constituencies – districts that elect their own representatives to parliament