“Harirak” points out the dangers of “Chuan Leekpai” and modern Democrats who do not have party DNA.

On December 12, 2023, Assoc. Prof. Harirak Sutabutr, former Vice President for Personnel Administration Thammasat University Posted a message via Facebook Harirak Sutabutr stated…

From now on, the Democrat Party will never be the same. Will the party get bigger or smaller until it’s at least ten or not? It’s not certain. What is certain is that the Democrat Party will never be the same again.

Let’s take a look back at the Democratic Party strategically a bit.

In business, there are 3 main types of competitive strategy.

1. Low cost strategy It is a competitive strategy with lower prices for everyone. Do not choose to focus on specific groups.

2. Strategy makes a difference It is a strategy that tries to differentiate itself from competitors. without choosing to focus on specific groups as well

3. Strategy to focus on a specific group, also called focus, is a strategy that chooses to emphasize or focus on a specific group of people. They may compete in that group by making a difference. Or you can choose to compete on price. in the group of people who choose to focus on

From time immemorial Most of the people who voted Democrat were middle class. and are usually people with relatively high levels of education When the Thai Rak Thai Party was born, which chose to focus on the grassroots and issued policies that resonated with the grassroots. until winning the election landslide While the Democrat Party’s policies are rather staunch policies, they do not clearly focus on their own strengths, namely the middle class. Calling it without a competitive strategy would not be wrong. The result was that the Democrat Party lost election after election to the Thai Rak Thai Party. People Power Party and Pheu Thai Party, respectively.

After the NCPO government Before the 2019 election, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, clearly announced that Will not support General Prayut Chan-o-cha, which is considered the first non-stabbing action of the Democrat Party. It is focused on people who do not want the Palang Pracharat Party to be the government because it is the party that came from a coup. Unfortunately, most middle class people are still afraid. “Thaksin regime” almost all people who used to choose the Democrat Party turned to choose the Palang Pracharat Party. Grassroots people still choose the Pheu Thai Party, which was inherited from the Thai Rak Thai Party. As for the new generation, they turned to the Future Forward Party. The Democrat Party was thus defeated again. causing Abhisit to announce his resignation as party leader The Democrat Party has become a medium-sized party. And finally, when there was an election of Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit as the party leader. The Democrat Party also decided to go against Abhisit’s stance. By joining the government with the Palang Pracharat Party. Mr. Abhisit decided to resign from being MP at a later time

The last election The Democrat Party has Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit as the election commander. However, since Khun Jurin became the party leader Blood began to flow from the Democrat Party, such as Mr. Korn Chatikawanich, Dr. Warong Dejkitvikrom, Mr. Peeraphan Saliratwiphak, Mr. Nipit Intarasombat, Mr. Thaworn Senniam, who gradually resigned from party membership. And the Democrat Party returned to competing in elections without a strategy as before. The result is that this time the Democrat Party only received a total of 25 MPs for both types, not even one MP in Bangkok. Not enough. There was also a defeat in the South which had never happened before. As a result, Mr. Jurin had to announce his resignation as party leader, following in the footsteps of Mr. Abhisit. Mr. Chalermchai, who has previously announced that he will quit politics for the rest of his life if the Democrat Party gets the numbers There are fewer MPs than in the last election. Still calm and not showing any expression at all.

Going back to the era when Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit was the party leader. It is quite clear that The Democrat Party has begun to split into two factions. One side is a group that clearly has Democrat DNA, led by Mr. Chuan Leekpai and Mr. Banyat Norm, who still adheres to the party’s ideology unchanged. The other side is led by Mr. Chalermchai Sri-on and Mr. Det Is Khaothong, especially Mr. Det Is. Has had a harsh behavior, openly challenging the party’s elders and seems ready to join the government with any party. Mr. Det-is himself admitted that he flew to Hong Kong before the election and met with Mr. Thaksin. But like Thanathorn That is, he claimed that he wasn’t going to talk about politics. If not, Khun Chuan proposes to abstain from voting in the election of the Prime Minister. The Democrat Party would probably join the government with the Pheu Thai Party. Yet there is still Some MPs went to vote for Mr. Settha Thavisin to be Prime Minister.

When Mr. Jurin resigned, both parties had to compete to become party leader. in order for the party to move in the desired direction There was a lot of outsmarting until the meeting to choose the party leader had to fail and fail again two more times. Mr. Chalermchai’s side had the advantage of having 21 current MPs in his group out of a total of 25 MPs. Compare this because according to party regulations, the weight of the votes of current MPs will be given to 70% and others such as Former MPs and ministers received only 30%. Mr. Chalermchai’s side sent Mr. Narapat Kaewthong to compete for the position. And suddenly there was Ms. Wattanya Bunnag who announced that she would be running. which by the qualifications of Mr. Wattanya Still unable to run for party leadership Because he has not been a member for 5 years, in addition to being exempted by 3 out of 4 votes, and it is not clear that Which side does Mr. Wattanya stand on? But it’s definitely not Mr. Chalermchai’s side.

In the end, it looks like the MP from Mr. Chalermchai’s side will want Mr. Chalermchai to be the leader of the party Or maybe Mr. Chalermchai wants to be the leader of the party himself, I don’t know. But because Mr. Chalermchai had already vowed to quit politics for the rest of his life. Therefore, they had to find an excuse by having all 21 MPs sign their names and asking Mr. Chalermchai to compete to be the leader of the party. To save the Democrat Party from moving forward.

When this news spread Political fans immediately know that The new leader of the Democrat Party will be none other than Mr. Chalermchai. Definitely Sri On Because there are 21 MPs in hand, this is the first time that we can tell with 100% certainty who will be the party leader before the party’s election. Because the Democrat Party is the only party that every time the party leader is chosen The candidates are really competing and no one can tell in advance which candidate will win. At this point, truth is the strength of the Democrat Party. which is the only party that can be called It is truly a political institution. Because no one is the owner who can order anyone to be the leader of the party.

On the day of the meeting to select the party leader, Mr. Chuan Leekpai, an elder of the party Must come out and explain the party’s ideology at length and nominate Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva to be the party leader. This is a last attempt to prevent the Democrat Party from becoming a political party that is not the Democrat Party anymore. But the participants seemed to hear from their left ears through their right ears. The vote to request exemption for those who have been party members for less than 5 years from running for party leadership did not have enough votes and had to be dropped. Ms. Wattanya was therefore deprived of her rights by default. Mr. Abhisit, who is probably sure that he cannot defeat Mr. Chalermchai. After requesting time off to chat one-on-one with Mr. Chalermchai announced his withdrawal from the race for party leadership There was the sound of loud applause. And when Mr. Abhisit also announced his resignation from party membership. The applause was even louder, so Mr. Chalermchai Sri-on became the 9th leader of the Democrat Party, without any competition.

Immediately after the meeting ended, Mr. Sathit Pitutecha announced his resignation from party membership. It is not enough to express your opinion that Mr. Chalermchai’s failure to keep the truth Don’t just be the party leader. Still can’t be a politician From now on, party members such as Mr. Kiat Sittiamorn, Mr. Sathit Wongnongtoey, Dr. Pisit Leeatham and others are uncertain whether they will announce their resignation from party membership as well or not.

An elder who is a political expert whom I respect and love told me that Mr. Chuan should announce his withdrawal from politics. After General Prayut Chan-ocha announces the dissolution of parliament, it will be the most beautiful way down. But your problem is I love democracy too much. Today must be painful. But with Mr. Chuan’s vision, he may not be able to abandon the Democrat Party. But what you have to think about is How will you live from now on? Because the new party executives seem to have almost no one with the party’s DNA. And no one will give importance to seniors like Khun Chuan, Khun Banyat and others anymore.

Let’s continue to follow in what direction the Democrat Party will move forward. What will be the role of party elders? This is probably something that political fans must follow without blinking.