Thai junta leader orders end to army rule but keeps tough powers

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um

 

FILE PHOTO: Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha smiles before speaking to the media at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday ordered an end to military rule before his new civilian government is sworn in, but kept the power to let security forces carry out searches and arrests unchallenged.

 

Since Prayuth took power in a 2014 coup, his junta has issued more than 500 orders under the so-called Article 44 - dubbed the "Dictator's Law" by detractors - that allowed him to bypass Thailand's laws.

 

He is due to become a civilian prime minister after being picked by junta-appointed senators and the lawmakers who were elected in a March 24 vote that his opponents said was rigged against them.

 

Prayuth's order on Tuesday, which he said would be the junta's last, ended restrictions on the media and transferred civilian cases from military to civilian courts.

 

"I won't be using Article 44 any more," Prayuth told reporters at Government House in Bangkok. "These orders did not cause problems, they were done to fix problems."

 

But the government said some orders introduced under the junta would continue: For example, giving the army and police the freedom to search, summon, and detain people for seven days as long as it is in the name of national security.

 

"The military keeping the power to detain people is significant," Yingcheep Atchanont, a program manager at iLaw, a Thai legal monitoring grou, told Reuters. "This maintains the climate of fear."

 

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that some of the junta orders would remain because they are necessary, but that parliament could change them.

 

The coalition backing Prayuth, which consists of 19 parties, has a small majority in Thailand's lower house of parliament.

 

The military government has been gradually relaxing political restrictions since last year. Prayuth said that his new government will be in place by the middle of this month.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Matthew Tostevin/Mark Heinrich)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-10

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Dear Reuters, did you have to choose such an obnoxious photograph of Thailand's beloved leader?

Same same, but different.

"Thai junta leader orders end to army  rule"

 

Does that mean you'll sack yourself? 

35 minutes ago, webfact said:

"I won't be using Article 44 any more," Prayuth told reporters at Government House in Bangkok. "These orders did not cause problems, they were done to fix problems."

 

No, Article 44 was there so you could have everything your own way.

Very little, if anything, has changed with "your version" of civilian rule, and, one way or another, your days at the helm are numbered. 

41 minutes ago, webfact said:

He is due to become a civilian prime minister after being picked by junta-appointed senators

speaks volumes

Nothing has changed then. 

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

who were elected in a March 24 vote that his opponents said was rigged against them.

And that's putting it mildly .. 

How many people in his cabinet are military or ex military?

35 minutes ago, pieeyed said:

How many people in his cabinet are military or ex military?

Easier to count how many aren't.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday ordered an end to military rule before his new civilian government is sworn in, but kept the power to let security forces carry out searches and arrests unchallenged.

probably thinks hypocrisy is a virtue

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Since Prayuth took power in a 2014 coup, his junta has issued more than 500 orders under the so-called Article 44 - dubbed the "Dictator's Law" by detractors - that allowed him to bypass Thailand's laws.

Dictator's Law.

 

Haven't heard that one before. I think I like it.

(hate the law but like the descriptive terminology, most apropos).

Calling this heinous crime and travesty of justice a government makes one  complicit and the same thing goes for calling this armed and dangerous man a priminister.

3 hours ago, madmitch said:

Dear Reuters, did you have to choose such an obnoxious photograph of Thailand's beloved leader?

Is there any other choice?

30 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Is there any other choice?

Yes!There is nearly always a choice.

Same same but (no) different..... 

“but kept the power to let security forces carry out searches and arrests unchallenged.“

 

Insurance policy.

Quote

but kept the power to let security forces carry out searches and arrests unchallenged

Security of the nation etc. Really?

Naaah 

This is for the new smoking at home ban law

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Prayuth's order on Tuesday, which he said would be the junta's last, ended restrictions on the media and transferred civilian cases from military to civilian courts.

 

Civilians tried in Military Courts was down to them defying illegal orders and diktats handed down by a military            . (Will that word be banned forever?)

Now that Thailand is supposedly a democracy and such orders and diktats no longer in effect, why are these cases even ongoing? Justice? My backside. 

4 hours ago, daveAustin said:

"Thai junta leader orders end to army  rule"

 

Does that mean you'll sack yourself? 

It means his secret police will take over the job of monitoring (read: "eliminating") and opposition.

 

Yet another (another, another, another, another ...) insult to everyone's intelligence and human rights ...

 

4 hours ago, madmitch said:

Dear Reuters, did you have to choose such an obnoxious photograph of Thailand's beloved leader?

Careful! - You'll incur Steven's wrath.  Steven is his number one fan!

 

I just wish Steven's carer was a bit more diligent in monitoring his meds.

4 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

No, Article 44 was there so you could have everything your own way.

Very little, if anything, has changed with "your version" of civilian rule, and, one way or another, your days at the helm are numbered. 

Not unless the senate get disolved where he holds absolute power

He probably, now holds more power than before as he  has the will of the senate to warrant any decision he makes.

welcome to China

4 hours ago, madmitch said:

Dear Reuters, did you have to choose such an obnoxious photograph of Thailand's beloved leader?

Hmmmm, I don't know. I think it quite accurately reflects the moment. ????

5 hours ago, webfact said:

...ended restrictions on the media

No more bananas thrown at the 'media monkeys'?

As the man once said, “Every country has the government it deserves.” 

It's just doing what it likes to do.
Untouchables.

 

Junta dressed up in pin-stripe... just the medals have gone everything else remains !

Does that mean the army will now return to barracks ,somehow I doubt it.