"Yingluck" backed by Pheu Thai Party

BANGKOK, March 27 (TNA) - Members of the ruling Pheu Thai Party remain their support for Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in running in the next general election as a top candidate. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul confirmed the support on Thursday, saying that he had talked to former Pheu Thai MPs and they insisted on their continual support for the caretaker prime minister as the Pheu Thai Party and people still have faith in her. Surapong told reporters he considers as a rumor on reports that the caretaker prime minister and members of her Shinawatra family will not run in the next election. Surapong noted that the caretaker prime minister has never said whether she will run in the next election or not and she will decide on the matter after the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) sets a date for the next national poll. Surapong denied the possibility of a secret talk between exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the caretaker prime minister's elder brother, and Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC). Regarding reports that the Pheu Thai Party may have Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana as its number one list-MP candidate, instead of Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck, Surapong state that would depend on the Pheu Thai Party's executive board. Regarding three grenade attacks at Suthep's house on the outskirts of Bangkok, Suraopng opined that they appeared to be aimed at attracting public attention. Suthep, meanwhile, continued with his PDRC's campaign march on Bangkok streets for the fourth round this week to invite people to join the PDRC's mass rally in the capital on March 29 to demand a national reform before the next general election. (TNA)