The Chartthaipattana Party is set to establish its foothold and grab House seats in the three southern border provinces in the general election, according to former coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who was recently appointed the party's chief adviser.
Gen Sonthi, a former leader of the Matubhum Party, was speaking during a trip to the party's branch in Pattani's Muang district to work out preparations to field party candidates in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, as well as in the Saba Yoi and Thepha districts of Songkhla.
He also led party members on a visit to Pattani's Yarang district, a constituency in which the party hopes to win a House seat.
Gen Sonthi said Chartthaipattana has a raft of policies to address poverty and solve injustices in the deep South.
Most importantly, it wants to help end insurgency-related violence that has plagued the predominantly Muslim region since 2004, said Gen Sonthi, the former army chief.
Education and economic developments in the region are also among the party's key policies, he said.
Gen Sonthi, while he was army commander-in-chief, staged a coup in 2006 that toppled the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. He later entered politics by forming Matubhum and becoming an MP. He has since defected to Chartthaipattana.
Meanwhile, Songkhram Kitlertpairote, leader of the red shirt-affiliated Pheu Chart Party, on Thursday led party members in paying their respects to a statue of Thao Suranaree in Muang district of the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
Pheu Chart is also known to be an ally of Pheu Thai.
Hundreds turned up to show their support for Pheu Chart including Jatuporn Prompan, a core leader of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, and Yongyuth Tiyapairat, a former president of parliament.
Pheu Chart is seen as a vehicle to help Pheu Thai secure party-list MP seats in light of the new electoral system. It is being probed by the Election Commission over "outsider" meddling.
