Abhisit wants new leader in place soon

Published on February 10, 2005

The Democrat Party should choose a new leader as soon as possible to pick up the pieces after its humiliating defeat in Sunday’s election and mount a serious challenge to Thai Rak Thai, said Abhisit Vejjajiva, one of the favourites to become the party’s new leader.

“It will take a long time to revive the party because we need to look four years ahead and consider how to stay in the hearts of the people,” he said.

The Democrats did not have to wait until the annual convention, which was normally held in April, to elect a new leader, he said.

Following Banyat Bantadtan’s resignation as party leader and executive board member on Tuesday, the board will select an acting leader today.

According to party regulations, it must hold a convention within 90 days to elect a permanent leader.

“The sooner the party gets a new leader, the more time it has to fix what has gone wrong.”

Abhisit, one of eight deputy leaders, was widely expected to be chosen as temporary leader. He said the Democrats needed to convince voters with a pragmatic approach to deliver policies in order to compete with Thai Rak Thai.

“Although we have no state budget or authority, I believe we can do it,” he said.

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