Vote to remove PM from Office

[Logan]

Government asks opposition not to invite public to vote to remove PM from office

A government spokesman has asked the opposition Pheu Thai party to drop its plan to invite the public to vote on the PM’s removal from office. Thai PBS World reports that the opposition party is planning to ask the public to cast their votes online during, or shortly after, a no confidence debate against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 5 of his ministers. The 5 in the firing line are Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin, and Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn.

The parliamentary debate is set to take place from August 31 to September 3, but government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says its purpose is to allow opposition parties to hold the administration to account, not to invite the public to vote against the government. Thanakorn says if the opposition has evidence of the government’s alleged wrongdoings, it can use legitimate legal channels to take further action.

Meanwhile, Thai PBS World reports that Seksakol Atthawong from the PM’s Office has condemned the language used by the Pheu Thai party in its criticism of the PM, accusing the party of a dirty tricks campaign against the government. Seksakol says inviting the public to vote to remove the PM from office is one such example.

However, Prasert Chanthornruangthong, secretary-general of the Pheu Thai party, is not fazed, saying the opposition’s allegation that the government is power-hungry and arrogant will be proven, citing its management of the Covid-19 pandemic and failures in vaccine procurement. Prasert says the debate will lead to a new government and is calling on the public to vote to remove the PM at the same time as the vote is happening in parliament.


Editorial

These guys are afraid only 1% of the public will vote in support of these six spectacularly incompetent clowns. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin, and Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn. And of course the infamous PM himself.

You could not come up with a less talented, less competent, and less sincere group of men, if you deliberately searched the entire nation. Sorn the plumber would do a better job at any of those 6 positions. No talent. No experience. No leadership. Only broken promises, a devastated economy, a sabotaged tourism industry dying a slow death, and hungry Thai people.
Prayuth. Leading Thailand down a path toward lower African nation status. Making sure NOT to bring happiness to the people.

[Pegasus]

4-day no-confidence debate for PM Prayut set for August 31.2021

Dates have now been set for in-depth debate over the move to censure PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as opposition moves for a vote of no-confidence. The debates are now set to begin on August 31.2021 and continue over the course of 4 days, ending September 3 and will then be followed by a vote on September 04.2021 The decision came from a meeting that brought together the opposition, the ruling government, and cabinet representative. During that meeting, they agreed on the dates and length, and also allocated time schedules for each side to debate and present their cases.

The majority of floor time will be given to the opposition who are tasked with making the case for their call for a vote of no-confidence, implying that PM Prayut is unfit to fulfil his duties as prime minister, likely hinging on Thailand’s now dismal Covid-19 handling. They will be given 40 hours to make their case. Government MPs and cabinet ministers will be given 18.5 hours of floor time to present rebuttals and answer questions. This will be the third time PM Prayut has been up against a no-confidence vote and this time 5 other cabinet members have been named in the proceedings.

The call was brought by a coalition of 6 opposition parties working together to battle the administration that has faltered and lost support amid surging Covid-19 infections over the past several months and a bungled vaccine strategy. In a move that has riled some government feathers, the opposition party Pheu Thai is planning to ask the public to cast their own votes online during, or shortly after, the no-confidence debate against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 5 of his ministers.

The 5 other government officials called in the no-confidence debate are Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin, and Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn.

[Kungflu]

Return of 2-ballot voting system could prove a threat to PM’s future

The future of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and that of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party is in question due to the return of the 2-ballot voting system. The Bangkok Post reports that Parliament has approved a charter amendment bill that proposed a return to the system. According to the report, the voting system could prove an advantage to the Pheu Thai opposition party in the next election.

The move comes following the removal of Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow and Deputy Labour Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat from their posts last week, both of whom are close with Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon, who is also leader of the ruling PPRP. Thamanat has been accused of orchestrating a campaign to remove the PM and according to the Bangkok Post report, his time with the PPRP could be about to end.

Speaking to the Post, Stithorn Thananithichote, from King Prajadhipok’s Institute, says Thamanat and Prawit may have proposed a return to the 2-ballot system as a way of hindering parties like Move Forward, which is proving popular with younger voters.

“While they could not stop major parties like Pheu Thai, they can thwart the MFP, whose predecessor – the Future Forward Party – benefited from the single-ballot system in the previous election.”

Sithorn adds that support from 250 senators could still afford the PM another term. The senators were appointed by the now-defunct National Council for Peace and Order, which the PM headed up, and Sithorn believes that if he can heal the rifts within the PPRP, he could secure enough support for another term.

Sithorn also believes Pheu Thai could lose a substantial number of votes to the MFP at the next election, with Pheu Thai MP Sutin Klungsang agreeing a landslide victory as happened previously is not guaranteed. Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Nipit Intharasombat, has told the Bangkok Post that the PM will remain in power until the law on elections is ratified, but after that is likely to call an election.
“I don’t think the PM will want to serve another term given that he will face fierce resistance.”

[Sundance2020]

NIDA poll calls for PM Prayut to quit, House dissolve, Cabinet reshuffle



With the upcoming election, a new poll from the National Institute of Development Administration found that 40% of people feel PM Prayut Chan-o-cha should announce he is quitting as prime minister by next August. The NIDA poll asked political opinions from 1,311 people of various occupations and educations levels nationwide by phone on October 5 to 8. 2021

The poll addressed the controversy over whether PM Prayut can be reelected as the Constitution says no one can serve as prime minister for more than 8 years, and Prayut has been in command of Thailand since the 2014 coup. But as the Constitution was established in 2017 so some argue that PM Prayut only officially took the office in 2019 election and is therefore eligible for one more term.

The NIDA poll found nearly 41% of people believe that PM Prayut should commit to stepping down by August 2022 while 38% believe the Constitutional Court needs to rule on the issue as quickly as possible. Only 15% believe nothing needs to be done and nearly 6% had no opinion.

The poll also found that only 22% believed that the House of Representatives does not need to be dissolved, while other respondents debated when the dissolution should take place. 40% believe the House should be dissolved immediately, while 30% said the election law should be revised in line with the Constitution before the House dissolves. Nearly 6% believe PM Prayut should just be sure to dissolve the House before he faces another vote of no-confidence next year. Just under 2% had no opinion.

50% of those responding to the NIDA poll felt that the Cabinet was in need of a major reshuffling while 24% believed only a minor shuffle was necessary to fill the 2 empty cabinet positions formed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thamanat Prompow and Deputy Minister of Labour Narumon Pinyosinwat being ousted one month ago. Of that 24%, half felt their replacements should be outsiders while the other half think members of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party should step into the positions. 6% had no comment.

[Logan]

“People’s Constitution” to take down “Prayut regime” rejected by parliament

Parliament rejected a draft of the so-called “People’s Constitution,” a proposed legislation to take down what Thais call the “Prayut regime” and scrap the 20 year national strategy. A former Democrat candidate told Thai PBS World that “Prayut regime” essentially allows the prime minister to control the Senate and other organisations mandated under the charter.

The “People’s Constitution” draft was rejected by parliament yesterday, with 249 MPs and 224 senators voting against it, while 203 MPs and 3 senators voted in favour. But the secretary general of the Progressive Movement and a non-party reincarnation of the now-defunct Future Forward party, urged the public not to lose hope.

Being a key proponent of the draft as well as monarchy reform, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul from the Progressive Movement says he hopes that the opposition MPs who voted in favor of the draft will include the charter issue in their parties’ policy platforms for the next election despite the fact that the current Constitution was written to make amending the country’s supreme law a difficult task.

He urged fellow reformers to keep fighting for true democracy and not to give up their hope that the current Constitution might be altered one day, added that all attempts to change the Constitution by the people, as provided by the charter, have been obstructed and have failed to pass even their first readings in parliament.

Piyabutr, together with Parit Wacharasindhu, a leader of the reformist group “Re-Solution”, appeared together in front of Parliament on Tuesday to defend the draft and pleaded members of the Thai parliament to be open-minded, claiming that the proposed legislation is intended to dismantle the so-called “Prayut regime” that gives more power to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and replace it with a fairer system that benefits all stakeholders.

Parit “Itim” Wacharasindhu, a significant supporter of the People’s Constitution draft, expressed disappointment that the amendments draft was rejected outright by government MPs and senators. He claims that the reformists’ proposal does not promote any drastic changes to the current political structure and will not disadvantage any political actors, adding that Parliament’s rejection was just another attempt to “close the door” on any move to change the current Constitution.

[Sundance2020]

Thai government roasted by opposition bloc, Prayut called out for mismanagement



Corruption. An economic meltdown. Budget mismanagement. Opposition parties are calling out the government’s failures under the leadership of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, and a joint statement outlining failures over the past three years, including mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic, was released by Thailand’s six-party opposition bloc.

In the recent statement, opposition parties highlighted what they say was mismanagement by the prime minister during the pandemic, leading to business closures and economic downturn, and even massive corruption over a medical glove procurement scam which Thai PBS says led to the loss of more than 100 billion baht in government funds. Back in early-September, Prayut had been accused of mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic and answered questions from MPs during a four-day no-confidence debate.

Prayut’s government is also being accused of restricting people’s rights and liberties during peaceful pro-democracy protests. Emergency orders limiting the number of those allowed to gather in public, said to be in an effort to prevent Covid-19, were imposed at peak times during the pro-democracy movement. One order was imposed before dawn one morning as protesters were gathered outside the Government House to put pressure on Prayut to resign. Several were arrested.

Another issue mentioned in the statement was the multibillion baht lawsuit filed by a company in Australia over the shutdown of a gold mine in Thailand. Other issues were a failed crackdown on the illicit drug trade, a record level of borrowing due to budget mismanagement, and a drop in the ranking of Thailand’s education system in comparison to other Southeast Asian nations.

[Steve]

PM shrugs off claims of MPs being bribed to vote against him in no-confidence debate

The Thai PM has dismissed allegations that MPs are being bribed to topple the government in a forthcoming no-confidence debate. The claims were made on Facebook by former deputy PM, Trairong Suwannakhiri, according to a Bangkok Post report. Trairong says he’s learnt that between 5 and 30 million baht has been offered to MPs from smaller coalition parties, in an attempt to persuade them to topple the current administration.

According to the Bangkok Post, a group of 16 MPs from smaller parties have previously said they will vote in favour of anything that is in the country’s best interests, even if that is in opposition to the government.

Cholnan Srikaew, the leader of the main opposition party, Pheu Thai, says his party plans to table a no-confidence motion against the PM and his administration, with a debate likely to take place in late June or early July.

Meanwhile, government ministers have joined the PM in downplaying the allegations of bribery and vote-buying. Public Health Minister and leader of the Bhumjaithai coalition party, Anutin Charnvirakul, has dismissed the claims.

“The money figures and the plot (to unseat the PM) are questionable. If MPs act like that, their parties must take action. But such things do not happen in Bhumjaithai.”

Anutin goes on to say all coalition members must work together, taking collective responsibility, and if ministers can defend and explain themselves during a no-confidence debate, MPs are obliged to support them.

“No leaders of the coalition parties have been worried about a vote in parliament. Everyone supports the government to carry on working smoothly.”

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin has also downplayed the allegations, dismissing a claim that MPs have been offered up to 30 million baht to vote against the PM.

“That’s too much money to be spent on ousting the government considering that the government has not much time left in office. That’s impossible to believe.”