With the backing of the Pheu Thai Party’s Bangkok MPs, veteran politician Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan has emerged as a strong candidate for Bangkok’s governorship.
Sudarat’s candidacy sets her at odds with other factions of Pheu Thai, which have backed Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen for the position.
“Khunying Sudarat is ready,” Deputy Pheu Thai spokesman Jirayu Huangsap told the Bangkok Post on Monday. “We already have a female prime minister. Why shouldn’t we have the first female Bangkok governor?”
Despite widespread support among Bangkok’s MPs and city council members, Sudarat will face a difficult road to securing the Pheu Thai Party nomination on December 25. The faction supporting her rival, Pongsapat, includes such illustrious figures as Pheu Thai progenitor Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Deputy Premier Chalerm Yoobamrung.
Sudarat ran for the governorship once previously, in 2000, under the banner of Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party. She lost that election by a wide margin to Samak Sundaravej of the Prachakorn Thai Party, though this time around her prospects look more optimistic.
The Nation is speculating that Sudarat’s decision to reenter the governor’s race hinges on the assumption that the Democrat Party will run incumbent Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra. Sukhumbhand’s tepid performance has compromised his chances at reelection, a weakness that Sudarat and Pheu Thai hope to exploit.
For his part, Sukhumbhand has vowed to run independently if he fails to secure the Democrat Party’s endorsement.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva told the Post Today that the party’s board meeting, scheduled for later in the day, would probably not decide who will represent the party. The managing team has to wait for over 20 Democrat offices to submit their reports before making a decision. These reports will help the team decides when to meet again. Abhisit believes the decision will be made by December 15.
Gubernatorial elections will be held in the latter half of February, after current MR Sukhumbhand’s current term expires on January 10.
