The Pheu Thai Party dismissed media reports on Thursday claiming Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan would reduce her role in the party and eventually fade away from it.
Khunying Sudarat is a key party figure who was nominated as one of its three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the March 24 general election.
In his response to the media reports, Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said this was just a rumour that a newspaper had picked up and reported.
He said the situation has not changed since Khunying Sudarat visited the party's headquarters on Wednesday. She subsequently travelled to Chiang Mai to work with the party's winning election candidates on the province's haze crisis, he added.
As for a different rumour that Chaikasem Nitisiri, another of the party's prime ministerial candidates, would likely replace Khunying Sudarat as the party's top pick for PM, Mr Phumtham refused to be pinned down. He said Pheu Thai fielded three candidates and they were all busy with assignments on behalf of the party.
He also urged people not to stir up conflict within the party. The focus now should be on the Election Commission's (EC) handling of the vote count and its calculation of the number of MPs to clear up any remaining doubts about its handling of the election results, he said.
Mr Phumtham said media reports that a group of winning Pheu Thai election candidates refused to sign an oath to never support the National Council for Peace and Order or the prime minister were another attempt to create a rift in the party.
No one was forced to sign the oath, and all winning candidates have agreed to never support any bid by the military regime, he said.
However, some have not yet signed the oath because they were not present at the March 27 meeting when the subject came up, he added.
