Chart Thai Pattana gets new leader

Former agriculture minister Theera Wongsamut was yesterday unanimously named the new leader of the Chart Thai Pattana Party, replacing Chumpol Silapa-archa, who died in January. Theera was the sole candidate.

As party adviser Sanan Kochornprasart also died last month, the party's general meeting introduced Pradit Pattaraprasit and Thanonsorn Lertritsirikul to replace the two as party-list MPs.

Heavyweights like Pongpol Adireksarn, Paradorn Prissananantakul and Chada Thaiseth joined 300 party members for the meeting, but key members who had to attend the morning Cabinet meeting at Government House were absent.

The party's de facto leader, Banharn Silapa-archa, and other executives of the Chart Thai Party are banned from politics until December 3 when the party was dissolved by Supreme Court in 2008.