Negotations between political parties will be crucial in the formation of the new coalition government after the general election, regardless of campaign pledges, Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Prawit Wongsuwon said on Wednesday.
Gen Prawit is the PPRP's candidate for prime minister and currently a caretaker deputy prime minister.
In a letter posted on Facebook, the ninth in his name, he said many people had raised questions about the party's stance on the formation of the next government. He would try to explain.
In forming a government, the first thing that must be taken into consideration was the election results, which decided how many MPs each party would have.
The parliament, consisting of the 500 new MPs and the 250 senators, would then meet in joint session to elect the prime minister.
A person nominated for the post of prime minister must be from a party with at least 25 MPs. To win, they must get the support of at least half of the joint parliament, or 376 votes.
The nomination of candidates for prime minister would come after negotiations between political parties wanting to form a government. In principle, the number of elected MPs supporting the coalition should exceed 250. The government should have as many supporting votes as possible, to ensure its stability.
No party would want to be a minority government, he said.
Gen Prawit said that in practice, there were many factors to be taken for consideration before a government could be formed, including the ability of the party with the most MPs to get priority and the conditions set by each party in joining the coalition.
He said people with experience in politics knew that the formation of a government never went as expected.
For example, in the 2019 general election, the leaders of many political parties declared they would not join a coalition if their conditions were not met but they finally did so anyway, claiming it was for good of the people.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, then leader of the Democrat Party, said the party would not join the government if Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was prime minister. But the party, under a new leader, made an about-turn after Mr Abhisit resigned.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the Bhumjaithai Party leader, said in a press interview on March 8, 2019 that he disagreed with senators taking part in the voting to choose the prime minister. He said he was opposed to the military-backed PPRP, but finally agreed to join the PPRP-led coalition.
Even Suriya Juangroongruangkit, a key member of the PPRP, declared before the election that he would not take a cabinet post of if the party was in the government, but he eventually accepted the post of industry minister.
Gen Prawit said these examples showed there were no certainties in politics. Negotiations were always key to a settlement, with the immediate interests of all concerned raised for consideration.
Therefore, to the question with which parties the PPRP would form a government with after the general election, Gen Prawit said, this would depend on careful negotiations and any decision must be made by a party resolution. It was not a matter for any one person to decide.
What was certain was that the PPRP would stand firm to its commitment to "get past all conflicts", in the belief this was the only way of leading the country toward giving the people true happiness.
Gen Prawit concluded: "We will set up a government that can best answer to the people's hopes."
He promised to explain in a 10th letter how his party would win government without leaving the country in tatters.
