Thousands of police on standby
Thousands of police on standby
THAILAND: More than 12,000 crowd control officers will be deployed to handle anti-government demonstrations planned outside parliament today (Feb 19) and other important places in Bangkok this weekend.
Friday 19 February 2021, 09:43AM
A group of anti-government demonstrators clash with riot police near parliament building who prevented them from reaching the building last November. Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul.
A Facebook page named “Mob Fest” yesterday also posted a message urging supporters to rally outside parliament at 5pm today.
“We will watch a live broadcast of the no-confidence debate on a big screen,” the page declared. “We will yell at the government and debate on 10 urgent issues proposed by the people. Over the past seven years since Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power, he has taken the people on a roller-coaster ride with a host of promises and it has all come crashing down.”
Confidence debate a scorcher, MPs say
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Crisis of public faith picked as drama unfolds
published : 14 Feb 2021 at 07:33
24 Gathering of all sides: A meeting attended by government, opposition and senate whips discusses a proposal by a Palang Pracharath MP to seek a Constitutional Court ruling on whether the opposition s censure debate content violates the charter. The meeting ended with all sides agreeing to hold the debate from Tuesday to Friday without screening the content.
The opposition parties expect the upcoming no-confidence debate to bring the government to its knees while academics believe a cabinet reshuffle may follow as the government will soon be in its second year in office.
Whip says govt open to charter amendments
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published : 14 Feb 2021 at 06:00
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If the Constitutional Court rules that the charter amendment process is unconstitutional, the government will instead go ahead with changes to the charter section by section, chief government whip Wirach Ratanasate said on Saturday.
On Tuesday, parliament agreed that the court should rule on the legality of proposed amendments aimed at setting up a charter drafting body. A joint session of MPs and senators approved the motion by 366 votes to 316 with 15 abstentions.
He denied the government wanted to delay the charter amendment process. I insist that the government did not give any instructions [to delay the process]. It is a matter of when the amendment process will be complete, Mr Wirach, also an MP of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), said.
In our politics, time really can stand still
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published : 13 Feb 2021 at 04:00
21 In this photo from Tuesday, the Palang Pracharath party s motion to have the charter court rule if parliament can form a charter drafting panel sails through with 366 votes for and 316 against. (Bangkok Post photo)
A number of political developments, ie the waning pro-reform movement and the major loss of the Move Forward Party in local elections, may have given the Prayut Chan-o-cha government and the Palang Pracharath Party such a false sense of confidence that they feel they can now move to delay the process of rewriting the constitution.
Coalition MPs to oppose court review
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Censure debate still on track for Tuesday
published : 12 Feb 2021 at 06:24
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A PPRP list-MP gave his assurances on Thursday the government would refrain from proceeding with a petition seeking the Constitutional Court s review on the legality of the opposition s upcoming no-confidence motion.
The petition, which was sponsored by Palang Pracharath Party-list MP Paiboon Nititawan, would ask the House of Representatives to seek the court s ruling on the legality of the opposition s no-confidence motion after it refused to reword sections mentioning the monarchy.
The process to obtain the court s ruling is potentially time-consuming, and is seen by government critics as an attempt to stall the censure debate, which is set to take place on Feb 16–Feb 19.