It was probably the first time that most people heard the words “Pentham (Fair) Party” when Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said on Monday that it was one of the political parties he had invited to join his coalition government.
The brand-new political party won only one House seat in the general election, raising questions as to why Pita would want to include it in his administration.
The answer may lie in the party’s platform and its secretary general Kannavee Suebsang’s campaign message.
Kannavee, now the party’s only elected MP, and practically all of its other executives, are political newcomers. The party campaigned on the issues of human rights, democratic values and bureaucratic decentralisation.
What stands out, however, is the party’s stand on the situation in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Kannavee has been openly critical of the central government’s handling of the violence in the restive region.
Kannavee reiterated his party’s call for an end to the use of security and emergency laws on Monday, which he claimed were a cause of the violence in the three provinces. He also demanded a total abolition of the Internal Security Operations Centre, whose power, he said, has been consistently abused.
Kannavee Suebsang of Fair party
Pita’s Move Forward Party has adopted a similar policy towards the troubled southern region.
Kannavee confirmed that he has been asked by Pita to join the coalition with five other political parties, whose combined House seats would give it a comfortable majority.
“We never thought that we would be in the government. There is no bargaining on our part. What brings us together is our common objective. We all want to see peace in the south,” he told Thai PBS.
The 47-year-old party leader has been a frequent figure at democracy and human right fora. Kannavee previously worked at the National Security Council before becoming an officer of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), serving in Sudan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
