Pheu Thai Party To Submit Candidacy Registration Monday

BANGKOK, December 22 (TNA) – Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai Party is now prepared and will on Monday apply for candidates contesting under the party list system for the February 2 nationwide poll, said party spokesman Prompong Nopparit. Registration for candidates contesting under the system will start from Monday to Friday. Applications will have to be submitted to officials at the Thai-Japanese Stadium at Din Daeng. Mr. Prompong said his party will field 125 candidates contesting under the party list system and the party’s leader Charupong Ruangsuwan, also caretaker interior minister, will lead the candidates to submit applications on Monday. Pheu Thai candidates will start launching election campaigns immediately after submitting the application, he said. The campaigns will focus on national political reform and how to solve poverty problem in the country. Touching on the decision of the major opposition Democrat Party boycotting the upcoming election, Mr. Prompong said it was “within earlier expectations”. He said the Democrat Party had boycotted general election earlier and this time it knew that it would not win the election and so it decided to ask for a political reform to be completed first as an excuse for not running in the poll. Meanwhile, spokesman of Democrat Party Chavanond Intarakomalayasut opined that his party had decided not to contest in the general election after seeing a failure in Thai politics coupled with corruption problem while the caretaker government also did not accept final rulings of independent organisations. Mr. Chavanond said the Democrats will start conducting national reform process and accept public opinions for the draft of blue-print on the reform. The process will start from this week. Although the Democrat Party has resolved not to contest in the upcoming election, it will not obstruct it, Mr. Chavanond added. (TNA)