Nirmal Ghosh
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 10-07-2008
The Thai opposition is laying the groundwork to impeach the government following three court decisions affecting key members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). Despite the pressure on his five-month-old coalition government, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej remained defiant yesterday, saying his government was stable. He also blamed the Constitution for making political turmoil possible.
A day earlier, the Supreme Court had banned former Speaker of the House Yongyuth Tiyapairat, a member of the PPP, from politics for five years for electoral fraud. The judgment means Yongyuth will lose his seat in Parliament, and opens the possibility of the entire PPP being held liable.
Also on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court found Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama had breached the Constitution by not consulting Parliament before signing a pact with Cambodia to support Phnom Penh's proposal to list the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
Last night, there was widespread speculation that Mr Noppadon would resign at a press conference today.
In a third blow to the government, the Constitutional Court yesterday disqualified Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab from office for failing to fully declare his wife's assets.
"The wheels are moving now," Isra Sunthornvut, secretary to Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, told The Straits Times. "We will impeach Noppadon. Our next two targets will likely be Samak and (Minister in the Prime Minister's Office) Chusak Sirinil."
The Democrat Party has approached the PPP's coalition partners on the possibility of their defecting to form an alternative government, with the Democrats in the lead.
The Democrats, however, are not in favour of an early snap election. Analysts say this is because the party fears it will again fail to gain enough votes to form a government.
If this happens, it will then lose out to the PPP or any other party which presents itself as a reincarnation of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party.
The Thai Rak Thai was ordered dissolved by the Constitutional Court last year for fraud, but its policies remain hugely popular with rural voters.
Samak, who also faces corruption and libel charges in court which render him personally vulnerable, is blaming the Constitution for the government's troubles.
"It's clear that all of the problems are caused by the Constitution," he told reporters yesterday. "There are still many problematic articles and I want the people who drafted the Constitution to re-examine it, article by article. I would like it to be amended."
Drawn up by the previous military-appointed government which ousted Thaksin, the current Constitution is designed to avoid domination of the system, which happened under his Thai Rak Thai party.
But it also makes political parties vulnerable and encourages inherently fragile coalitions.
The PPP wants to amend key clauses to protect itself from dissolution - a move that critics say will also favour the return to politics of Thaksin and 110 of his former party colleagues who were banned from politics for five years last year.
Parliament is currently in recess and will begin its next session next month.
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 10-07-2008
The Thai opposition is laying the groundwork to impeach the government following three court decisions affecting key members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). Despite the pressure on his five-month-old coalition government, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej remained defiant yesterday, saying his government was stable. He also blamed the Constitution for making political turmoil possible.
A day earlier, the Supreme Court had banned former Speaker of the House Yongyuth Tiyapairat, a member of the PPP, from politics for five years for electoral fraud. The judgment means Yongyuth will lose his seat in Parliament, and opens the possibility of the entire PPP being held liable.
Also on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court found Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama had breached the Constitution by not consulting Parliament before signing a pact with Cambodia to support Phnom Penh's proposal to list the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
Last night, there was widespread speculation that Mr Noppadon would resign at a press conference today.
In a third blow to the government, the Constitutional Court yesterday disqualified Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab from office for failing to fully declare his wife's assets.
"The wheels are moving now," Isra Sunthornvut, secretary to Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, told The Straits Times. "We will impeach Noppadon. Our next two targets will likely be Samak and (Minister in the Prime Minister's Office) Chusak Sirinil."
The Democrat Party has approached the PPP's coalition partners on the possibility of their defecting to form an alternative government, with the Democrats in the lead.
The Democrats, however, are not in favour of an early snap election. Analysts say this is because the party fears it will again fail to gain enough votes to form a government.
If this happens, it will then lose out to the PPP or any other party which presents itself as a reincarnation of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party.
The Thai Rak Thai was ordered dissolved by the Constitutional Court last year for fraud, but its policies remain hugely popular with rural voters.
Samak, who also faces corruption and libel charges in court which render him personally vulnerable, is blaming the Constitution for the government's troubles.
"It's clear that all of the problems are caused by the Constitution," he told reporters yesterday. "There are still many problematic articles and I want the people who drafted the Constitution to re-examine it, article by article. I would like it to be amended."
Drawn up by the previous military-appointed government which ousted Thaksin, the current Constitution is designed to avoid domination of the system, which happened under his Thai Rak Thai party.
But it also makes political parties vulnerable and encourages inherently fragile coalitions.
The PPP wants to amend key clauses to protect itself from dissolution - a move that critics say will also favour the return to politics of Thaksin and 110 of his former party colleagues who were banned from politics for five years last year.
Parliament is currently in recess and will begin its next session next month.
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