Thai PM backs "Pongsapat" as candidate for Bangkok Governor’s seat

BANGKOK, January 16 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has expressed her full support and confidence in Deputy National Police Chief Police General Pongsapat Pong-charoen, who is also outgoing secretary-general of Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), as a candidate of her ruling Pheu Thai Party contesting the upcoming gubernatorial election, set on March 3, 2013. Yingluck insisted on Tuesday that Police General Pongsapat is qualified to work for Bangkokians, as he has been familiar with the capital and has met a number of people with various problems; so, he is believed to be able to bring and to apply his experiences for his work for people in the city, if elected. The prime minister acknowledged although Police General Pongsapat has never worked as the Bangkok governor, he has regularly contacted and served people in the capital and he should, thus, be given an opportunity to present his policies and to work in order to prove himself; while her Pheu Thai Party will soon officially present its policy regarding the forthcoming Bangkok governor election. According to the prime minister, Police General Pongsapat's strategic campaign for the March 3 gubernatorial election will focus on cooperation and working together between her Pheu Thai Party-led administration, as the major policy decision maker, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), as the driver of the city's policies, for the sake of rapid and creative works for Bangkokians. Meanwhile, Police General Pongsapat has tendered his resignation as the ONCB chief, effective from January 15, and has applied to be a member of the ruling Pheu Thai Party to contest the next gubernatorial election with other candidates, including M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the main opposition Democrat Party, who is running for the Bangkok governor's seat for the second four-year term. (TNA)