Main Opposition Party Considers Creating "Offshoot" To Boost Election Chances

Thailand's main opposition Pheu Thai Party (PTP) mulls setting up a smaller party as its "offshoot" to bolster its chances for victory in the next general election, the Bangkok Post reports.

• The move would help the PTP win more party-list seats after parliament adopted in the first reading a seat calculation method that effectively lowers the electoral threshold for smaller parties.
• The government has been accused of deliberately adopting the new method to prevent Pheu Thai Party from winning the next lower house election amid expectations that the PTP was on track for strong performance in the party-list poll.
• The main opposition party has questioned the legality of the new rules and threatened to take them to the Constitutional Court, if the proposal is passed by lawmakers in the third and final reading.
• But it may also resort to the "taek bank pan" strategy of setting up a smaller political party that would provide its support in the party-list poll, allowing the PTP to focus on contesting constituency seats.