The Democrat Party will see its new leader and new executive board elected on May 15, with the new leadership widely expected to shed light on where the party stands as the race to form a coalition government heads into the final straight.
Korn: Experience in government
Four candidates are expected to step into the party leadership contest. Former finance minister and acting deputy Democrat leader Korn Chatikavanij is being touted as the favourite for his combination of economic expertise and experience in government.
Mr Korn has seemingly already started his bid for the party's top post, touring several provinces in the Central Plains and southern regions. It is reported that the Democrat veteran is also reaching out to media outlets for political talks.
As chief of the party's policy committee, he has held discussions with locals over crop prices and the country's economic outlook, and political observers believe that such interactions could pay dividends for his bid to become party leader.
Mr Korn has reportedly formed an alliance with former MP Chaiwut Bannawat to make a push for power within the party's executive. Mr Chaiwut, a veteran politician who won the March 24 poll in Tak, is tipped to become the party's secretary-general if Mr Korn wins the leadership race.
The Democrat deputy leader gained attention recently when he was quoted in some news reports as saying the party was highly likely to join the Palang Pracharrath Party (PPRP). However, he was quick to deny the reports, saying that it is neither his or the party's stance.
According to Mr Korn, the reports had something to do with a forum in Nakhon Si Thammarat where some participants suggested the Democrats should work with the PPRP. He put forward the proposal to the forum for feedback which suggested very few were in favour of the party assuming the role of opposition.
"I only thanked them and left the stage. Let me say this again, it is a question that will be unavoidable until a new government is in place.
"I'll listen to the people. And after the new party leader selection process is completed, our executives will have to honour the party's resolution," Mr Korn posted on Facebook.
Mr Korn, now 55, who is known to be allied with former party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, made his debut as an MP for Constituency 7 in Bangkok in the Feb 6, 2005 election and served as finance minister in the Democrat-led government headed by Mr Abhisit.
In the May 15 leadership race, he is expected to face acting party leader Jurin Laksanavisit, former Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin and former Bangkok MP Phiraphan Saleeratthawipak.
The leadership contest will be different from the previous one in November last year in which Mr Abhisit was voted back only to bow out less than six months later after the disastrous election showing.
In the leadership election, the primary system in which members nominate candidates for the job, will be suspended. Instead, each contender will be nominated at a general meeting and they will be asked to showcase their vision for steering the party forward before a vote is called.
However, it is hard to predict the outcome as the contest will be decided by a meeting of 307 individuals divided into two groups whose votes carry different weights.
The first group will comprise the roughly 52 newly elected MPs from the constituency and party-list system and their vote will carry 70% of the weight. The other group will be made up of representatives from various groups whose vote will account for the remaining 30%.
Regardless of the result, the party's key task is to pull itself together and restore unity and, of course, face the inevitable question of whether or not to join the PPPR-led alliance.
PPRP pushes to lead govt
Political parties are waiting in eager anticipation for the Election Commission to announce official election results so they will proceed to seek allies to form a coalition government.
The deadline for the EC to announce official poll results is next Thursday.
However, a source at the poll agency said an EC meeting on April 30 resolved to endorse and announce constituency MPs this Tuesday and the party-list MPs the following day.
The political alliance led by the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), which supports Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to return to power, is confident that it can gain enough House seats to form a government.
When the EC announces the official poll results, the PPRP-led bloc hopes it may garner more than 245 seats if the Democrat and Bhumjaithai parties decide to join. Currently, parties thought to be part of the PPRP-led alliance include the Action Coalition for Thailand Party and the Chartthaipattana Party.
According to a poll agency source, a total of 27 parties should receive at least one party-list MP each based on the EC's calculation method.
The formula will adhere to the calculation method initiated by the Constitution Drafting Committee, the source said.
It appears to favour small parties garnering fewer votes than the number required to get a seat under the complicated mixed-member apportionment system, according to political observers.
Therefore, it came as no surprise that Gen Prayut, who is the PPRP's prime ministerial candidate, has recently talked less to the media in order to avoid making any remarks that might offend the feelings of any parties that may join the PPRP-led alliance.
Gen Prayut is known to be blunt at times in the comments he makes about politics and politicians.
It is the task of the PPRP to court other undecided parties, particularly the Democrat and the Bhumjaithai parties, to join its alliance, a PPRP source said, adding that the presence of Democrat and Bhumjaithai politicians would hopefully boost the PPRP-led coalition's credibility, and show the public that their cabinet line-up would be widely represented by the coalition parties.
In the event the PPRP can form a coalition government, it will have to reserve cabinet seats for key party figures who did not stand as MP candidates, such as party leader Uttama Savanayana, deputy party leader Suvit Maesincee, party secretary-general Sontirat Sontijirawong, and party spokesman Kobsak Pootrakool.
The three resigned as cabinet ministers to help push for the PPRP's bid to lead the next government but did not stand as MP candidates. They are expected to be rewarded with cabinet seats in the new government in return for their dedication, the source said.
Anutin ready for plenty of calls
Anutin: Playing it cool over political camps
It's been said that when Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul speaks, other political parties listen, which may have held true for at least several days after the March 24 election.
Now the party, like most others, has gone quiet while political upheaval has focused in the past week on the bitter controversy surrounding the way of calculating party-list vote as well as a media-shareholding allegation against Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
However, the calm will soon be broken as May 9 approaches. This is the deadline by which the Election Commission (EC) must announce the official results of the general election.
As the political heat starts building again, Bhumjaithai's name is likely to right up there, pundits say.
At least half a dozen parties that won seats in the election have pledged allegiance to Pheu Thai, a stance they say they will stick to.
Soon after the ballot papers were all handed in, a Pheu Thai-led bloc lost no time in announcing it has managed to muster a majority vote, albeit by a paper-thin margin.
The pro-regime Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) said it had also successfully courted several parties to forge a coalition and would proceed with laying the groundwork to form a new government. This camp is expected to see Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha return as premier.
But with the party-list seat calculation system still ruffling feathers, it remains anyone's guess how many MP seats the parties will be awarded.
While the Pheu Thai-led alliance appears firmly intact, the PPRP-led bloc may struggle to form a coalition. One of the reasons for this is that the Democrat Party is now split over whether it should join such an alliance.
The Democrats will soon elect a new board or executives and leader. They are expected to convene to vote on the "coalition question" soon.
But mystery still swirls around which way Bhumjaithai, which has 39 constituency seats under its belt and is expected to capture at least 20 party-list seats, will swing. Critics say the party could prove a formidable, possibly indispensable, partner for the PPRP.
So far, Bhumjaithai has not been included in the Pheu Thai-led club, however a last-gasp about-face cannot be ruled out. Mr Anutin has been playing his cards close to his chest and refused to be drawn on whether he preferred the PPRP or Pheu Thai as a potential suitor.
He said he will know on May 9 whose call he should take when the phone starts ringing after the official results come in.
They will reveal how many seats each party has pocketed, and Bhumjaithai may well be approached by both camps, sources say.
Having Bhumjaithai as a teammate would come as good news for either, the sources added. The party could hand the PPRP the House majority it needs to set up a government -- provided the Democrats are also on board and the other pro-PPRP parties don't break ranks.
Bhumjaithai could also buttress the Pheu Thai-led bloc if it decides to go that route.
Mr Anutin has been non-committal but he didn't mince his words when responding to a recent query as to whether he has entertained the notion of a trade-off: His party's support for a certain political camp in exchange for a guarantee he would receive full support to serve as prime minister.
Instead, Mr Anutin has insisted the nation's top office must be earned, and should not be viewed as a pawn in a political game.
