PPRP to sue Thanathorn over MP poaching claim

"Mr Thanathorn was lying through his teeth when he slandered us," says PPRP deputy spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana on Friday. (Photo from PPRP Facebook)

The Palang Pracharath Party has said it is preparing to file a lawsuit against the leader of the Future Forward Party for alleging PPRP offered to make all court cases against him and other key FFW members go away in exchange for 20 MP seats.

PPRP deputy spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana wrote in a post on the PPRP Facebook the accusation made by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit was an outrageous lie.

“We have no such policy and have never assigned anyone to do that. Mr Thanathorn was lying through his teeth when he slandered us. This is the dirtiest political trick ever. No one in our party has ever done so,” he said in the post.

Mr Thanakorn claimed PPRP had performed its political duties honestly and transparently in line with democracy. “We’ve never thought a new generation like Mr Thanathorn would do this.”

PPRP will ask its legal team to consider taking legal action against Mr Thanathorn. “What he said also damages the judicial system since no one can intervene it.”

Mr Thanakorn ended the post by urging Mr Thanathorn to prepare himself to be a good member of the Opposition, work constructively and show some love for the nation.

On Wednesday, Mr Thanathorn spoke at a forum held by the Foreign Correspondents'Club of Thailand about the future of his party.

He began by apologising for a “bad joke” he was about to tell.

“A few weeks after the election, my mother was contacted by a senior PPRP member. By then, there were already many lawsuits against me and other senior party members.

“The PPRP man told my mother, ‘Khun Somporn [Mr Thanathorn's mother], we can clear all these lawsuits if you ask your son to transfer 20 MPs from FFP to PPRP’.

“My mum, who’s nervous and fear for her son’s safety and is not much into politics, called me and said, ‘Thanathorn, we’ve got an offer. You’ve won so many so why don’t you just give them 20.

“This is the kind of society we live in,” he said.

FFP won 80 MP seats -- 30 in constituencies and 50 from its party list -- in the March 24 poll while PPRP had 115 seats -- 97 constituency MPs and 18 list ones.

Mr Thanathorn has faced computer crime and sedition charges.

He will also have to stop his role as an MP if the Constitutional Court agrees to accept the EC’s request to disqualify him for having shares in a media company, a ground for MP disqualification. If that happens before Parliament convenes on May 22, Mr Thanathorn will not have a chance to set foot in Parliament.