Two executive members of the Democrats have resigned from all party positions, Kanok Wongtra-ngan and Mallika Boonmeetrakul Mahasuk, as the fallout spreads over the alleged sexual misconduct of former deputy party leader Prinn Panitchpakdi.
Mr Kanok resigned as deputy party leader, citing a moral obligation over the blossoming scandal.
He posted notice of his resignation on his Facebook page on Monday.
He said in the message, without naming anyone, that since a high-level party executive had been accused of sexual misconduct, with cases against him now in the judicial process, many people had expressed their discontent and abhorrence over the matter. People saw it as a serious breach of moral principles.
This also led to many questions being raised over the collective responsibility of the party's executives. The party leader's response to the matter was unacceptable and counter to the expectations of the public, Mr Kanok wrote, referring to Jurin Laksanawisit.
"With a moral obligation, which is of high importance to a politician in performing his duties, I hereby resign as a deputy party leader, with immediate effect," Mr Kanok wrote.
Party director Sutham Ranong announced that Ms Mallika had also resigned from the party's executive committee.
In her resignation letter, dated April 23, Mrs Mallika did not give any reason. The letter was submitted to and accepted by the party on Monday. The party would report her resignation to the Election Commission. It was effective April 25, Sqd Ldr Sutham said.
There were unconfirmed reports that seven or eight more executive committee members, most of them women, had also expressed their intention of resigning.
However, the number of confirmed and unconfirmed resignations was still below 50% of the committee membership. Half of them leaving would result in the executive committee being dissolved.
