Democrat infighting 'over now'

Trairong Suwankhiri, a senior Democrat figure, said he had talked to both party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and Chalermchai over the phone about Chalermchai's alleged dissatisfaction over his failure to be appointed a government minister.

He expressed confidence Chalermchai would not defect to another political party, as had been rumoured.

"I am confident Chalermchai will never leave for another party. I persuaded him to come into politics. He has more money than any political party can offer" for a shift in allegiance, said Trairong.

He was referring to speculation about Chalermchai's being "bought" to join another political party.

The veteran politician said he learned from Chalermchai's brother that the Democrat deputy leader had no hidden motives when he wore a blue shirt, the colour of the coalition Bhum Jai Thai Party, recently to welcome the party's leader, Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul, to his constituency of Prachuap Khiri Khan. Trairong said the blue shirt was part of the Interior Ministry campaign for social unity.

Trairong met Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is also Democrat secretary-general, at Government House before noon Monday. He was told later the meeting did not involve party conflict.

PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey, a Democrat executive, said the case of Chalermchai would not be serious enough to cause problems for the party. He said any differences within the party had been cleared and would not affect the government's performance.

"Chalermchai already has said clearly he did not make any demands. Everything should be over now," he said.

Satit insisted there was no blacklist preventing Chalermchai from being appointed to the Cabinet. He said the Democrat Party has a transparent system for party MPs and executives to select Cabinet members from the party. He noted the party earned a quota for 10-plus Cabinet seats, out of its MPs of more than 170, which had caused the Cabinet appointment of many qualified party figures to fail.

Democrat spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks also denied there was such a thing as a blacklist against Chalermchai. He said that as a well-established political party, the Democrats selected Cabinet members through a meeting of party MPs and executives.

Satit Monday admitted to conflict between coalition partners but added that differences of opinions were normal for elements within a government.

"It is normal for partners of a coalition government to see things differently. Even in a one-party government like Thaksin Shinawatra's, there were disagreements among Cabinet members from the same party. The point is that everything must be transparent and come under scrutiny by the mass media and the public," the PM's Office minister said.