Government’s latest peril over alleged incomplete oath-taking

 

 

The government appears to be in the hot seat over Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s alleged failure to recite the full text of the oath of allegiance during the swearing-in ceremony prior to taking office.

 

Opposition Pheu Thai and Future Forward parties have insisted that the reciting of the full text of the oath is mandatory under Section 161 of the Constitution and missing of one paragraph of the text, as allegedly done by the Prime Minister, means that the cabinet is not legitimate.

 

The two parties pointed out that Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngarm, the government’s top legal advisor, has avoided commenting on the issue because he might not yet have an answer to the accusation.

 

Pheu Thai deputy leader Samart Kaewmeechai said today that failing to recite the full oath is a serious matter, claiming that governments around the world place great importance on oath taking prior to assuming public office.

 

He claimed that Prime Minister Prayut had omitted a paragraph, not just a few words. The text allegedly omitted is “…will protect and abide by the Constitution of Thailand in its entirety.”

 

Pheu Thai spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said today he found it very unusual that Dr. Wissanu can explain every legal issue, but has avoided commenting on this whenever he is asked about it.

 

An incomplete reciting of the oath, he said, equated to no oath having been taken and, therefore, the cabinet may not perform its duties.

 

Future Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, who first raised this issue last week, today referred to a book entitled “Behind the Political Curtain”, written by Dr. Wissanu, which mentions the swearing-in ceremony.

 

In the book, the deputy prime minister wrote that oath taking, by nature, is the uttering of words from the heart, so an oath taker can say anything he/she wishes “but if this is allowed, it will be very confusing because some are veteran oath-takers and can speak fluently, while others may be timid and mince their words. For this reason, we cannot allow nature to take its course. We must use the law by making the oath a rule. No one can say more or say less, except after the swearing-in ceremony.”

 

Former House Speaker Arthit Ourairat, in his Facebook post, wrote that, if the swearing-in ceremony was effectively voided, then it means that the National Council for Peace and Order is not dissolved.

 

Others, however, argue that the NCPO has already been dissolved, asking how can it be resurrected.

 

Source: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/governments-latest-peril-over-alleged-incomplete-oath-taking/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-08-02

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In another newspaper Wissanu was quoted saying that he is not allowed to explain this and that we will understand it at a later date. For now its none of our business.

 

Pretty scary words....

What is the oath worth after a coup ? answer, another oath

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The text allegedly omitted is “…will protect and abide by the Constitution of Thailand in its entirety.”

 

Makes sense that Prayut might miss this part.

Hard next time to demand amnesty for a coup when abolishment of the constitution becomes invalid by this part of the oath.

If the omission was by choice, the omitted words represent an interesting and troubling choice of words. 

 

Perhaps not playing with a full deck (nothing new about that).

Only function on blood oaths.. 

 

Do you swear? - c'noath mate!  

 

He couldn’t have omitted the scripted paragraph placed in front of him. He is dumb but not that dumb. There is certainly an ulterior motive behind this and I suspect it involved the Army Chief. 

The oath need only to be a twist of the three monkeys;  See all, take all and deprive all. 

17 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

[... ] and I suspect it involved the Army Chief. 

I suspect you may not be thinking high enough...

Maybe we could connect some dots between the incomplete oath and the events in Bangkok yesterday.

Turbulence ahead of us?

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

He couldn’t have omitted the scripted paragraph placed in front of him. He is dumb but not that dumb. There is certainly an ulterior motive behind this and I suspect it involved the Army Chief. 

 

Wonder if he said "thank you three times" afterwards! 

Next week PTP and FFP will be announcing the PM was wearing the wrong colored socks whilst swearing his oath of allegiance. This serious infringement means the government, the election, all the senator appointments and even the coup are all illegitimate and must be repeated.

 

Children playing kindergarten games while they get richer and others get poorer. 

Some posts containing comments which could be construed as lese majeste have been removed:

 

Any discussion of the Monarchy or members of the royal family in a political context will result in a ban. This includes vague comments that could be construed as referring to the Monarchy.

 

 

20 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Next week PTP and FFP will be announcing the PM was wearing the wrong colored socks whilst swearing his oath of allegiance. This serious infringement means the government, the election, all the senator appointments and even the coup are all illegitimate and must be repeated.

 

Children playing kindergarten games while they get richer and others get poorer. 

I would ordinarily agree it seems petty, except when considering the part omitted is the part to protect and uphold the constitution.

47 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Wonder if he said "thank you three times" afterwards! 

That dimwit will probably omit that too. 

Interesting comments. I don't believe for a second that these words were accidentally omitted.

Several events of late (re-reported here in this forum) would seem to indicate that there is trouble on the horizon.

I think it is pretty obvious as to what is going on behind the scenes nowadays, and I don't think there is anything that can be done without all out war. A certain prominent Facebook poster has made many links already. 

5 hours ago, tifino said:

Only function on blood oaths.. 

 

Do you swear? - c'noath mate!  

 

Gotta be Ozy!

Cant he just swear of a Rolex swiss bank account number or a stack of Baht so he never forgets again????

23 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

Next week PTP and FFP will be announcing the PM was wearing the wrong colored socks whilst swearing his oath of allegiance. This serious infringement means the government, the election, all the senator appointments and even the coup are all illegitimate and must be repeated.

 

Children playing kindergarten games while they get richer and others get poorer. 

"Mr Wissanu on Thursday said he would rather not answer the questions when asked by reporters whether the incomplete oath would affect the cabinet or whether the prime minister must seek a royal pardon. “One day you’ll know why we shouldn’t talk about it,” he said.

 

When a reporter asked him to explain for “knowledge’s sake”, Mr Wissanu said: “This is not ‘knowledge’ but something no one should stick his nose into.” "

 

It's obviously pretty serious stuff for those who didnt fulfill the oath. 

 

I guess you understand what he is hinting at? Because this awnser makes it pretty obvious what is going on now and what their endgame is. 

 

 

 

Yes because reading a few lines makes all the difference and turns a <deleted> into a straight up fella.

 

Ceremonies are for entertainment purposes for yellow paper rags. Get real.

Obviously these politicians could not give a flying truck about what they say and what they do or what they promise and actually do...they don’t care about anyone or anything other than how much money can be made at the trough.

 

According to one prominent person though there are some things that are deemed to be very superstitious and this appears to be kind of superstition Number 1 (oath under the auspices of His Majesty). This is one oath that for superstitious reasons (and only superstitious reasons and nothing else) no-one wants to break.

 

I think that is why this is being considered seriously. For purely superstitious reasons he didn’t want to sweat an oath to something he knew he wouldn’t uphold.

On 8/3/2019 at 2:24 PM, Eric Loh said:

That dimwit will probably omit that too. 

Dimwit, being dim means at least something was operating with very low input - does that seem about right? 

This constitutional matter is becoming rather absolute. 

 

I mean they should absolutely include the constitution in the oath..

prayuth clarified, that was on kings order and asks to wait for the next election.

all is right, thailand is not constitutional monarchy anymore.

opposition will take it now to the constitutional court, which is controlled by the army

 

25 minutes ago, londonthai said:

opposition will take it now to the constitutional court, which is controlled by the army

"I think that this issue should be settled. It should not escalate. Many of them are fellow soldiers. As brothers, I ask you not to use politics to create instability in the country. Good or bad, they can wait for the next general election."This quote from the artical leaves me wondering where the army is going to take it?Remember Prayute is no longer army nor in control of the army and may infact come to realise what we have been saying and that is the army has to much influence in Thai politics.Is this very thing coming back to bite Prayute on the bum?

The one thing that follows from Prayut's 'clarification' is that the omission was indeed intended and, from his point of view, with good reason. So, in this country, oaths are important, even to oath breakers.

 

We await further developments.