The opposition People’s Party (PP) has officially kicked off its early election campaign with the slogan “With Us, No Gray”, signalling its anti-corruption stance.
Sirikanya Tansakul, PP deputy leader and party-list MP, says the country is inching towards a possible House dissolution under the memorandum of agreement (MoA) signed with the current government, and elections may happen in March.
The MoA was signed between the PP and Bhumjaithai Party in return for the former’s vote to elect Anutin Charnvirakul, BJT leader, as prime minister, after the removal of the previous administration, which was led by the Pheu Thai Party.
Under the agreement, Mr Anutin must dissolve the house within four months of taking office. Mr Anutin, who assumed office in early September, said he would dissolve the House around the end of January, with an election expected in March.
The PP’s “With Us, No Gray” slogan will be a part of its election campaign, Ms Sirikanya says, adding it is just one of the party’s early campaign messages among others.
“The ‘No Gray’ slogan resonates well because it reflects the people’s concern about corruption, money laundering and grey capital from all sources and nationalities,” she said.
On the selection of the PP’s MP candidates, Ms Sirikanya said the process for constituency candidates is nearly complete, while the party-list selection is still ongoing.
Ms Sirikanya also thanked voters in the Northeast for their support in the latest Nida Poll, where the PP ranked first in party preference and third in PM candidate preference.
The poll, titled “Political Trends in Isan”, was carried out from Oct 27-30 among 2,000 eligible voters across all provinces of the Northeast. It aimed to gauge the current political mood in the region.
When asked which PM candidate they would vote for if an election was held today, 32.4% of respondents said they had not yet found anyone suitable. However, 19.7% backed Mr Anutin, followed by 18.5% for Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, the PP leader.
In fourth place was Chaikasem Nitisiri, a PM candidate of the Pheu Thai, with 8.8%, followed by Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party (6.1%) and Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Thai Sang Thai Party (4.8%).
When asked which political party they would currently support, the PP led with 26%, followed by “no suitable party” (24.6%), Pheu Thai (16.8%) and BJT (15.7%).