Thai Citizens Party

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The Thai Citizens' Party ( Thai พรรค ประชากร ไทย , Phak Prachakon Thai) is a right-wing (or right-wing extremist ), monarchist and military-oriented party in Thailand . It was founded in 1978 and has its stronghold in Bangkok. Its chairman was Samak Sundaravej . It has been practically meaningless since the late 1990s.

founding

Samak Sundaravej was a right-wing leader in the Democratic Party of Thailand when he founded the Thai Civic Party in 1978 with the help of influential members of the Thai military. His defection from the Democrats was significant in that the Citizens' Party was able to challenge them in its stronghold of Bangkok through his personal address . In the 1979 elections, the Thai Civic Party won 29 of the 32 seats in the capital and 3 more seats in other regions of the country.

history

After the party's stormy start, Prem Tinsulanonda granted her a share in the government. In the 1983 elections, the Citizens' Party was able to gain marginally, especially due to Samak's rhetorical skills.

The party later achieved mixed results. 24 seats in the 1986 elections, followed by 31 in 1988. The opposition period ended in 1990 when Chatichai Choonhavan invited the Citizens' Party to a coalition government. In February 1991, however, this government was overthrown by a brutal military coup. The Prachakon Thai party - and Samak - were recognized as the stooges of the military establishment and therefore fell to 7 seats in the next elections in March 1992. This was particularly due to the success of Palang Dharma , which was able to steal many votes from the Citizens' Party.

After the early elections in May 1992, the party only secured three of three hundred and sixty seats. That almost sealed her end. In the elections for the Bangkok City Council in Bangkok in May 1994, however, it was again able to achieve 19 of the 55 seats. This success continued in the next national elections in July 1995, when the Citizens' Party reached 18 seats and entered the coalition government of Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa . Samak became deputy prime minister.

In 2001, Samak resigned from the position of party chairman.

literature

Michael Leifer: Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia . London: Routledge 1996. ISBN 0-415-13821-3 . Article "Prachakorn Thai (Thailand)".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Denis Derbyshire, Ian Derbyshire: Political Systems Of The World. Chambers, 1989, p. 122.