From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post Jan 10: PDP leader choices
Date: 11 Jan 1993 16:52:40 +1100
Organization: Mail/News gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: munnari.oz.au

 
Maj-Gen Chamlong Srimuang's exit from the Palang Dharma Party 
leadership to become a farmer and to train a new generation of 
leaders has left a big vacuum to be filled. In less than two 
weeks, the party members will decide at their national assembly 
who will fill that vacuum. NATTAYA CHETCHOTIROS analyses the 
possibility among the candidates.
 
NOW that Maj-Gen Chamlong Srimuang has taken steps in pursuit of 
his "dream" to become a farmer and to produce a new generation of 
leaders, all eyes are on the Palang Dharma Party's national 
assembly on January 23 to decide who will replace the enigmatic 
party leader.
 
Four persons have been mentioned as being in the running for the 
leadership post: Foreign Minister Sqd Ldr Prasong Soonsiri, Deputy 
Prime Minister Boonchu Rojanasatien, Communications and Transport 
Minister Col Vinai Sompong, and University Affairs Minister Suthep 
Atthakorn.
 
It has been widely expected, however, that only the first two 
persons can entertain any serious hope of being selected. The 
latter two are said to lack the clout necessary to command respect 
from the party membership.
 
Most party members believe that their search for a new leader at 
this time serves only to facilitate Chamlong's plan to expand the 
party membership base. It is an opportune time to find Chamlong's 
replacement since the party, as a coalition partner in the 
Government, has little opportunity to assert itself at the moment.
 
The search for a new leader will become a more meaningful exercise 
when the next general election comes around. And by that time, it 
is almost unvoidable that the party must again rely on its "elder 
leader" to rally its members to face the voters.
 
Candidates for the party leader post realise that the position 
carries a mere two-year term and that whoever is chosen will 
inevitably be compared to Chamlong. Nevertheless, none of them is 
really shying away from the race. But no one is overtly clamoring 
for it, either. If any campaign is going on, it has been running 
behind the scene, mainly out of fear that an explicit and 
intensified competition would lead toward disunity within the 
party.
 
While the 200 voting party members would eventually cast their 
votes to elect their new leader, they will be looking toward 
Chamlong for any sign indicating his preference.
 
To be cruelly frank, Suthep, though currently serving as acting 
leader, is seen as lacking charisma and character for the post and 
can be counted out.
 
If Maj-Gen Chamlong could afford to hand-pick his successor with 
no regard to all other considerations, his vote would probably go 
to Col Vinai, his most trusted aide during his reign as Bangkok 
governor.
 
 
The PDP de facto leader had said the reason he could not throw in 
his lot with Vinai was because the Bangkok MP is still "too 
young". Observers see that as meaning he wanted Vinai to have more 
"flight time" in the party to consolidate his position and to gain 
more experience and respect from party members. Perhaps, in two or 
four years' time when the nation, assembly is re-convened, he may 
then be ready for the top post. In any case, observers believe 
that after the upcoming assembly, he will emerge as the new party 
secretary-general.
 
The choice, therefore, comes down to two men of different 
backgrounds and temperaments: former "Cold Warrior" Prasong and 
former "Economic Czar" Boonchu. The latter is chairman of the 
party's advisory committee while the former is a committee member. 
Chamlong realises he has to be very careful to pick his choice for 
it could mean the survival of his party.
 
In a recent interview with Sunday Perspective, Chamlong was still 
ambivalent.
 
Both of them are good men with different areas of strengths and 
weaknesses, he said. Prasong's strength is in his political 
ability and experience which compare favourably with leaders of 
other parties. His weakness, he added, is that Prasong has "too 
many political enemies." But that fact does not bother him, 
Chamlong insisted.
 
"If we talk about political enemies, I think I have more of those 
than Khun Prasong," he said.
 
While Boonchu may be spotless in his personal characters, he 
joined the party just before the general election in September. 
But he is admired as a party devotee and has done much to help the 
party financially. He is known to contribute 300,000 baht every 
month to the party fund.
 
In spite of that, Boonchu has not been able to win the heart and   
mind of a lot of PDP members. The former economic czar is thoughtt 
to be too old and out of touch with the current situation. 
Besides, they pointed out, he had never been successful in leading 
a political party starting from the Community Action Party, which 
he built up with his own hands, until it merged with other small 
parties to form the Solidarity Party which he led for a time. When 
he left Solidarity, the party had only six MPs. His detractors 
claimed that the breaking up of Solidarity indicated that Boonchu 
was not able to gain trust and acceptance among the members.
 
Chamlong obviously is aware and has been repeatedly reminded of 
these arguments. Yet, he does not seem to take them very 
seriously. After he failed to lure former prime minister Anand 
Panyarachun to take the PDP's helm, he aimed his sight on Boonchu 
as the front runner for his replacement.
 
Among the lobbying groups of the four candidates, that of former 
intelligence officer Prasong is the most outspoken. First-time 
Bangkok MP Arkorn Hoontrakun, an adviser to the Foreign Minister, 
is particularly vocal. He said he has a great deal of confidence 
in Prasong's ability and wits. He also expressed confidence that 
there is a good chance Chamlong would give the nod to Prasong, 
citing Chamlong's confidence in Prasong to act as his spokesman 
while he was fasting in protest against Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon's 
regime prior to the May suppression.
 
The Foreign Minister may not have a broad base of support since he 
is also relatively new in the party, Arkorn said, but if members 
care for the party's future and the public interests, they should 
consider him seriously.
 
Prasong himself, while gratified that he has support from a number 
of members, is reluctant to be seen as overly enthusiastic.
 
"Maj-Gen Chamlong has yet to discuss the matter with me," he said. 
"Therefore, I'm in no position to declare whether I'm prepared for 
the leadership post."
 
On the other hand, Boonchu's supporters, who did not wish to be 
identified, believe that their man has a better chance of getting 
Chamlong's support. They claimed that the PDP under Boonchu would 
not come under as harsh an attack from opponents as it would under 
Prasong.
 
If Chamlong is seen as being hard-nosed, they argued, Prasong is 
even more so.
 
"Our party was badly bruised by smear tactics during the previous 
election campaign," said one Boonchu supporter. "From being a 
democracy hero, Maj-Gen Chamlong had been denigrated and reduced 
to someone who led the demonstrators to die.
 
"But that ugly period has passed. Nothing after this could be as 
horrible. And nothing will prevent Khun Boonchu from moving the 
party for the next election. If Khun Boonchu is to lead the party, 
his supporters said Chamlong could feel worry-free to pursue his 
wish to be "the true representative of the Thai people." They 
insisted that all the party wants at the moment is someone to 
manage it until the next election.
 
And the fact that Boonchu does not have an overwhelming support 
within the party is not an overriding problem, they said. They 
believed that once Boonchu becomes the party leader, others would 
naturally fall in line behind him as Thais want to support the 
eventual winner.
 
In any event, Arkorn's overt endorsement of Prasong has spiced up 
the otherwise dull campaign in search of a new leader. Chairman of 
the Imperial Group hotel chain, Arkorn is still used to talking in 
a loud and authoritative manner. Though befitting a tycoon such as 
he is, his style also irritates members in the other camps who are 
waiting to see who will get the last laugh.
 
Many PDP members are concerned over whether the party could 
survive without Chamlong. Chamlong himself said his departure 
might have an impact, but he was confident that the party should 
be able to survive the temporary crisis.
 
"The party members have gotten used to my absence as leader during 
the May crisis. The party has survived, and a good number of the 
members got elected in the previous election," Chamlong noted.
 
"At the time, we were in even more of a crisis than we are in now. 
Yet, we managed to ride it out. I believe the current situation is 
nothing to worry about. The Government will continue to be in 
place. So, too, will Parliament.
 
"The new leader, whoever he might be, has the right to order me to 
do whatever to help the party. We should be able to switch roles 
from time to time and not attach too much importance to any 
particular individual."
 
In spite of the behind-the-scene lobbying by various group, it is 
believed that nobody but Chamlong himself who would have the final 
say about the next helmsman.