Suthep Thaugsuban, Thai leader of the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – Leader of the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), also known as the Yellow-shirt, plans to found a political party to back Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha in maintaining his post after the next general election.
Suthep Thaugsuban, PDRC core leader, would establish a party named the People’s Democratic Reform Committee Foundation, of which he is currently president, said Watchara Petchthong, a former Democrat Party member of parliament (MP).
Petchthong said the new party would affect the Democrats as some members would leave the party to join Suthep’s party.
Suthep resigned from the post of Democrat secretary-general and left the party in 2013 to found the PDRC to lead protests aimed at dislodging former PM Yingluck Shinawatra after her government mooted a controversial political amnesty bill that would let Thaksin Shinawatra, her brother, return to Thailand without facing jail for corruption charges.
Suthep’s movement played a vital role in the 2013-2014 Thai political crisis, with large-scale protests in Bangkok. The protests led to a coup in May 2014 staged by then army chief Prayut Chan-ocha.
Suthep later dissolved the PDRC and set up the PDRC Foundation in 2015.-VNA
VNA
