Yuttaporn Issarachai, political scientist from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said Prayut was building a political network in preparation for the upcoming election.

He said Prayut’s political intention was noticeable when he travelled upcountry to meet with several politicians from small and medium-sized parties.

Prayut is trying to build a base of allies who come from different backgrounds but share the same purpose of backing his return as head of the government, an analyst said.

Stithorn Thananithichot, a political analyst from King Prajadhipok’s Institute, said Prayut was making deals with these political groups to create a “stepping stone” for his premiership bid.

It was possible that these groups together could gain 126 seats in the House of Representatives. When combined with the 250 junta-appointed senators, it would be sufficient to put Prayut in the government’s top job, he said.

“The new election method actually allows this. If Pheu Thai and the Democrat parties won the constituencies, they would not get anymore seats for the party-lists. Then, these seats would go to these smaller parties that will back Prayut,” he explained.

The PM has come under criticism from politicians and observers for his recent political moves, which have been viewed as paving the way for his return to power.

Sudarat Keyuraphan, a key member of Pheu Thai Party, urged Prayut to be straightforward about his political ambitions and stop exploiting state resources to fortify his position. Jurit Laksanawisit, the former spokesman for the Democrat Party, said Prayut should hire more advisers to teach him about morality, in addition to the political understanding he was seeking.

The reactions came after the Cabinet on Tuesday appointed Sontaya Kunplome to be Prayut’s political adviser and Ittipol Kunplome to be adviser to the tourism and sports minister.

Before the appointment of the Phalang Chon politicians, Prayut met with politicians from the Sasomsap family who are influential in Nakhon Pathom province and Somsak Thepsutin, who is influential in Sukhothai, Yuttaporn noted. And the PM is likely to see many more politicians in future mobile Cabinet meetings, the analyst predicted.

Prayut is scheduled to hold a mobile Cabinet meeting in Buri Ram province,  a stronghold of veteran politician Newin Chidchob, on May 7 and 8.

However, these politicians were unlikely to leave their current parties to join a new, pro-junta party, Yuttaporn said.

They would more likely keep their affiliation but would join with the 250 senators to later vote for Prayut as an outsider prime minister, he said.

“This is because voters in recent years have come to understand that when they vote for a candidate, it matters to the party, too. So, if these politicians leave their current party and join with a pro-military group, it is likely that they would lose the election,” he said.

Pheu Thai Party’s  key figure Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan

Meanwhile, Sudarat yesterday called on Prayut to “act manly” and make it clear if he wanted to become a politician.

She said the move to appoint Sontaya demonstrated clearly Prayut’s desire to become prime minister after the election and prolong his rule as much as possible.

The problem now was that the junta leader was exploiting his absolute power and state resources to gain advantage over all other parties which were frozen by the coup-makers’ order, she said.

This was not genuine democracy, Sudarat said. But if Prayut could be straightforward about his ambitions and not play outside the rules, all parties would welcome it, she said.

“On the other hand, if he continues to be secretive, he will be questioned by the public,” she said.

Jurit said Prayut’s appointment of a political adviser was not surprising. However, he found it strange that after four years in power, Prayut now says he is ignorant about politics.

“But since he’s already appointed an adviser. I think he may as well appoint two more advisers – one to advise him about the people’s needs and the other about morality,” Jurit said.

Government officials yesterday played down the appointments. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam declined to say whether the appointments of the Kunplome brothers were to reinforce Prayut’s political influence. But he admitted that Prayut himself had proposed the appointments.

Prayut specifically wanted Sontaya to help oversee the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Wissanu said, adding that Sontaya had volunteered to create a better understanding among local people.

“His stronghold’s already geographically in the area of the EEC and the people need to understand how they’ll benefit. And Sontaya has people working in the area,” Wissanu said.

Jurit Laksanawisit