Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, leader of the Thai Liberal Party, severed ties with former PM Thaksin Shinawatra today and withdrew from the Pheu Thai-led coalition government.
He said that his withdrawal is because his party was not allocated any post in Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's government, despite his loyalty to her father, Thaksin.
The decision is expected to have only a slight impact, as his party has only one MP.
“I have been loyal to Khun Thaksin for almost 51 years, following his orders and assisting him with many issues. My party has not been rewarded with any position in the government,” he said.
What might have an effect on the government and Thaksin, however, is that Sereepisuth, a former national police commissioner, says he holds a number of secrets about Thaksin and is waiting for an invitation from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to testify.
Many individuals involved in Thaksin’s stay at the Police General Hospital, while serving his prison sentence, could face prosecution and imprisonment, he claimed.
“Let’s wait and see. I won’t tell you now, otherwise, you journalists would have no work to do,” he said.
Sereepisuth noted that he visited Thaksin five times during Thaksin’s 17 years of self-imposed exile abroad. He also claimed to have helped Pheu Thai numerous times, contributing to the party’s increase in MPs in the 2019 general election.
In July, Sereepisuth said he visited Thaksin in the Police General Hospital, where Thaksin asked him to withdraw his petition to the NACC against former PM Srettha Thavisin, for alleged abuse of power in appointing Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol as the new national police chief.
Despite being informed that the case was already with the NACC, Thaksin said he would “handle the issue” with the NACC. “(Former PM) Khun Yingluck also called me from abroad, making the same request as her brother (Thaksin),” Sereepisuth claimed.
