The Thai Civil Party ( PTG ) or Prachakorn Thai Party ( Thai. พรรค ประชากร ไทย ) is a political party in Thailand. The Thai civil party was founded in 1978 and never officially dissolved, even losing its political significance in 2001 when its long-time leader Samak Suntharaveth switched to another party. The Thai civil party, adhering to the ideology of the royalists, was close to the military and occupied the extreme right wing in the hierarchy of Thai politics [1] .
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History
The Thai civil party was founded in 1978 by Samak Sunthravet , who had previously been the main representative of the right wing of the Democratic Party. The party was officially registered in 1979, after the new constitution lifted the ban on all political parties. In the mid-1970s, Samak was known as an ultra-revolutionary orator who served as Minister of the Interior under Tannin Kraevichyn after the massacre at the University of Tammasat. He held this position from 1976 to 1977. With the help of the Thai civil party, Samar intended to get votes in parliament in his district of Bangkok [2] . The party, however, failed the election by not gaining enough votes in the capital.
In the 1979 general election, the Thai civil party won 32 of 301 parliamentary seats. Almost all Bangkok constituencies voted for it and only three districts outside the capital. In 1983, the party increased the number of seats to 36 out of 324 (24 seats were recruited in Bangkok) and became part of the government coalition of Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanon. In the 1986 elections, the Thai civil party lost 12 seats (the majority of voters turned to the Democrats) and became opposition. In the 1998 elections, the party restored the number of seats to 31 out of 357 mandates. Earlier, from 1990 to 1991, the Thai civil party was part of the government coalition Chichai Chonkhavana.
In the elections in March 1992, the party lost most of the seats - up to 7 out of 360, faced with the competition of the new Party Palang Dharma, which distracted most of the middle class electorate in Bangkok. However, the parties were given seats in the pro-military office of Suchinda Kraprayan, who was faced with civil mass protests during “Black May” (the name of a popular protest on May 17-20, 1992 in Bangkok against the government of General Swinda Kraprayon). After the resignation of the government, the new elections in September 1992 led to the complete defeat of the party, since it was associated with government attempts to forcibly suppress popular protest. The number of seats dropped to three places. By 1994, the party began to gain popularity again, gaining 18 out of 55 places in the city meeting of Bangkok. A year later, she regained her strength at the national level, gaining 18 out of 391 places, mainly due to the loss of popularity of the Palanga Dharma party in Bangkok. The Thai civil party joined the coalition government of Banharn Silpa-arch [3] .
In the 1996 elections, the number of seats remained unchanged, and the party continued to enter the coalition government, which was now headed by Chavalit Yunchayuy. After the parliament expressed a vote of no confidence during the 1997 Asian financial crisis , the Thai civil party split: 12 of its 18 members of parliament (deputies) - the so-called Cobra faction - supported the new government of Chuan Likpaya, violating the decision of the party council. Members of the Cobra faction were expelled from the party. According to the decision of the convocation of the Constitutional Court, the excluded deputies were allowed to save their seats and join the other party [3] .
In 2001, the founder of the Thai civil party and its permanent leader Samak left the party after he was elected governor of Bangkok on a non-partisan platform. The party has never officially dissolved, but its political platform has become irrelevant. Since then, the party no longer won seats in parliament.
Notes
- ↑ Political Systems Of The World. - Chambers, 1989. - P. 122.
- ↑ Michael Leifer. Prachakorn Thai // Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia. - 3rd. - Routledge, 2001. - p. 225.
- 2 1 2 The Court of Court. - Constitution for the People Society, 2003. - P. 51.