Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People's Party (PP), has declared he is prepared to step down if a court orders him to suspend his duties, as legal uncertainty continues to hang over 44 current and former party MPs.
Speaking on Monday following a seminar on Sunday reviewing the party's defeat in the 2026 general election, Mr Natthaphong said the party had already prepared contingency plans to address possible rulings that could affect its leadership and parliamentary roles.
"I am not attached to the position," he said in an interview.
"If the court orders me to stop performing my duties, I am ready to relinquish the leadership and take on other responsibilities."
The case, which is expected to become clearer around April, concerns 44 MPs from the Future Forward Party, the predecessor of the People's Party, accused of ethics breaches for proposing amendments to the lese-majeste law. Ten of the MPs were elected in the Feb 8 general election and the rest are no longer serving.
Mr Natthaphong said that both he and the affected MPs are innocent, arguing that submitting draft legislation is a constitutional duty of lawmakers and should not expose them to prosecution.
The party's legal team has petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of 10 MPs — eight party-list and two constituency representatives — requesting that they not be suspended while the case proceeds. A decision is pending.
Mr Natthaphong said any change in party leadership, which would also affect the position of leader of the opposition, must be decided by the party's general assembly.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We should wait and see how the case proceeds," he said.
Despite the legal cloud, the PP is focusing on rebuilding after its electoral setback. Although it secured nearly 10 million party-list votes, it failed to emerge as the largest party.
In a Facebook post following the seminar, Mr Natthaphong thanked supporters and acknowledged the disappointment.
He said the party had learned that "winning the battle of ideas is not enough" when facing entrenched patronage networks, constituency boundary changes and coordinated political attacks.
The party now plans to strengthen its grassroots presence through a volunteer-based structure known as the "Orange Volunteers", aiming to build networks in more than 75,000 villages nationwide, his Facebook post read.
