THAILAND: Reports Suggest Nattapong Will Lead MFP's Successor Party, Announcement Due At Noon

Khaosod runs a source report noting that Nattapong Ruangpanyawut, ex Deputy Secretary General of the Move Forward Party (MFP), has been selected to become the leader of the MFP's successor party, with Thairath noting that he defeated Sirikanya Tansakul during an internal vote held Thursday afternoon. An official announcement of the new party's name and leader is expected during a press conference around noon on Friday.

• This runs counter to earlier reports suggesting that Sirikanya Tansakul stood the best chance to become the new party's leader (see our earlier bullet here). Local media suggested that Nattapong has been praised for his "ability to coordinate work within party and pleasant demeanour." In addition, there is now speculation that the new party's name will be "Prachachon" or "People's Party."
• The Constitutional Court's verdict has already affected parliament's work by reducing the number of MPs (5 out of 11 MFP executives who received political bans were MPs) and rendering other ex-MFP MPs partyless. One of the ousted MPs was Deputy Speaker Padipat Suntiphada, who has already vacated his seat.
• The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) confirmed that a probe into the conduct of 44 former MFP MPs is underway and should not take a long time. However, the NACC was unable to say whether the defendants would be summoned to testify already this month. Both Nattapong and Sirikanya are on the list of MPs who could potentially lose their seats once the ethics case finds its resolution.