Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has defended his exit as interior minister under the previous Pheu Thai Party-led government, stating that Pheu Thai sought to regain the ministry to increase its advantage ahead of an anticipated early election.
In the second day of the debate on the government’s policy statement on Tuesday, Mr Anutin responded to accusations from opposition MPs that his government was formed under questionable circumstances.
The coalition led by Mr Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party has already violated the so-called memorandum of agreement signed with the main opposition People’s Party, said Jiraporn Sindhuprai, a Pheu Thai MP from Roi Et.
The agreement was signed in exchange for the People’s Party supporting Mr Anutin in the vote for prime minister. Bhumjaithai, in turn, would agree to stay in power for only four months before calling for a dissolution of the House. The People’s Party also set a condition that Bhumjaithai must not try to expand the coalition to secure a House majority.
Ms Jiraporn called the Anutin administration a ‘special government’ born out of irregular conditions – including Bhumjaithai’s withdrawal from the previous coalition and the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Aug 29 that removed Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister over her infamous phone call with Cambodian strongman Hun Sen.
Ms Jiraporn claimed the agreement with the People’s Party was not honoured, pointing to the government winning more votes than expected in the prime ministerial selection and to MPs defecting to Bhumjaithai, thereby breaching the pledge not to try to create a majority bloc.
She said the government had little sincerity about restoring democracy and pledged that Pheu Thai would use the next four months to scrutinise the administration intensively.
Pheu Thai is not officially part of the opposition led by the People’s Party, saying it prefers to be independent for now.
Rising to defend himself, Mr Anutin recounted that while accompanying Ms Paetongtarn when she was premier on an official trip to Cambodia in April, he was told afterwards that Cambodian officials had assumed he would soon be removed as interior minister.
He later received official confirmation on June 17 that Pheu Thai wanted the Interior Ministry back and suggested he take the health portfolio instead.
‘I told them it was better to be direct – if you want me out of government, just say so,’ Mr Anutin said. ‘I stood by Ms Paetongtarn every step, good days and bad, and never betrayed her.
‘Yet I was told Pheu Thai needed the Interior Ministry because elections were near,’ he said, adding that he saw no evidence that control of the ministry guaranteed electoral victory.
The Interior Ministry supervises provincial and local administrations nationwide, which critics argue could provide an electoral advantage to the party controlling the ministry.
Mr Anutin is now servong as Interior Minister again, in addition to his prime ministerial role.
He added that, after repeated discussions, including with the prime minister’s secretary-general, Bhumjaithai chose to withdraw from the coalition, citing both unfair treatment and the controversy surrounding the Paetongtarn-Hun Sen phone call, which undermined the government’s legitimacy.
Mr Anutin said the current coalition agreement with the People’s Party includes a commitment to dissolve parliament by Jan 31 or earlier if necessary.
He also dismissed claims of ‘poaching’ MPs to boost government numbers, stating Bhumjaithai’s recent gain came from a by-election victory in Si Sa Ket province, in a seat formerly held by Pheu Thai.