By Erich Parpart

The big question in regard to the 8-year term limit of the currently suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha seems to have at least found some solution according to an unauthenticated document that reportedly was submitted by the chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee – Meechai Ruchuphan.

 

The documents that were circulated on social media show that Meechai, who has been the constitution drafter for many coup lead governments, thinks that the term of the 2014 coup leader started in April 2017.

 

The 3-page document was addressed to the court and it indicated that the term should be counted from April 6, 2017, when the current junta-drafted charter came into effect.

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/43842/leaked-papers-suggest-2017-constitution-drafter-meechai-sees-suspended-pm-prayuts-term-starting-from-2017/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2022-09-07

 

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6 minutes ago, webfact said:

according to an unauthenticated document

Yeah, right!

Friends helping friends in all places.  Had no new Charter been created would he still not be PM? Asking for the pigs waiting to feed at the trough some more....

Meechai limbering up for the next coup/new constitution?

This is not a surprise, fully expected this position which will be coming from an an "independent" legal expert, this being his 4th or 5th "constitution".

 

And he's probably correct "legally".

 

So there are few paths forward...Prayut will return to work triumphantly on Friday, or next week. And then unrest will ensue.

 

Drip feeding the bad news to the public, it sounds like.

A few weeks ago their were minutes of a CDC released with Meechai saying it should be counted backwards.... the 180 degree opposite of what he now says...

Why the hell a country has to listen to some senile failed constitution writer who has been at the military beck and call for decades is quite preposterous.... The whole premise of the 8 year rule was designed to prevent people staying to long...

6 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Meechai limbering up for the next coup/new constitution?

Uh huh.

Same as it ever was.

Many, many paragraphs of the "new" constitution apply retrospectively, as a general framework for how the people in the country and politics should live together.

 

Now there should be an exception only for the 8 years for a PM?

 

Ridiculous cherry picking which thus calls into question the validity of the entire constitution.

Edited September 7, 20223 yr by tomacht8

why so much rif raf about something that everybody knows and was published to become public information, how can Prayut be allowed to even challenge the dates, I know we are in Thailand but......he did had the courage to keep a straight face while saying  "Promise of returning happiness & full democracy "  555

 

In August 2014, an unelected military-dominated national legislature appointed him as Prime Minister.^[14][15]

Coup d'état & first premiership (2014–2019)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayut_Chan-o-cha

Edited September 7, 20223 yr by Mavideol

1 hour ago, Mavideol said:

why so much rif raf about something that everybody knows and was published to become public information, how can Prayut be allowed to even challenge the dates, I know we are in Thailand but......he did had the courage to keep a straight face while saying  "Promise of returning happiness & full democracy "  555

 

In August 2014, an unelected military-dominated national legislature appointed him as Prime Minister.^[14][15]

Coup d'état & first premiership (2014–2019)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayut_Chan-o-cha

This may just be semantics but ...

 

It was an "unelected military dominated national legislature that ELECTED Prayut per se as PM. Certainly he was not democratically elected as no citizen-based General Election took place to establish the Parliament Ministers nor were opposition political leaders allowed any role in such "election." To all appearances, the 2014 PM's election was a democratic sham but still an "election."

 

Subsequently, PM-Elect Prayut was then confirmed as PM by royal endorsement (required consistently by previous Constitutions) published in the Royal Gazette. 

 

Even after Thailand's 2019 General Election that led to Prayut extending his PM role, Western Democratic Nations still didn't accept Prayut as democratically elected. But that didn't affect his role within Thailand as the legal PM.

 

Nov. 25, 2021

"Thailand not invited to US democracy summit"

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailand-not-invited-to-us-democracy-summit/

In contrast Taiwan was invited.

10 hours ago, smutcakes said:

A few weeks ago their were minutes of a CDC released with Meechai saying it should be counted backwards.... the 180 degree opposite of what he now says...

Why the hell a country has to listen to some senile failed constitution writer who has been at the military beck and call for decades is quite preposterous.... The whole premise of the 8 year rule was designed to prevent people staying to long...

Wrong. It was designed to prevent Thaksin from being PM for too long. In his case the court might oblige with a ruling that his time as PM in the noughties did count towards the 8 years.

5 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

Many, many paragraphs of the "new" constitution apply retrospectively, as a general framework for how the people in the country and politics should live together.

 

Now there should be an exception only for the 8 years for a PM?

 

Ridiculous cherry picking which thus calls into question the validity of the entire constitution.

There are a couple of traditional and long standing institutions that require a permanent dissolution before any such validity towards a competent constitution can transpire - or anything else, for that matter. 

 

Any talk or actions regarding anything otherwise is plainly moot and non sequitur fallacy. 

38 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Wrong. It was designed to prevent Thaksin from being PM for too long. In his case the court might oblige with a ruling that his time as PM in the noughties did count towards the 8 years.

Wrong again.

 

Neither Thaksin, his family or the PTP were involved in re-writing the constitution at all. How could he be written out when he wasn't and isn't even in the country?

 

It was expressly designed to put and keep Prayuth in as PM and keep him there forever.

21 hours ago, webfact said:

The 3-page document was addressed to the court and it indicated that the term should be counted from April 6, 2017, when the current junta-drafted charter came into effect.

The fix is in.

10 hours ago, billd766 said:

Wrong again.

 

Neither Thaksin, his family or the PTP were involved in re-writing the constitution at all. How could he be written out when he wasn't and isn't even in the country?

 

It was expressly designed to put and keep Prayuth in as PM and keep him there forever.

Some just can't let go of the Thaksin obsession. 

Let alone have a clear understanding of contemporary or recent historic markers.

Entirely as expected. Anticipate a degree of unrest, but not enough to prevent Prayut staying in place until 2025. What happens after that will be interesting...

11 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Entirely as expected. Anticipate a degree of unrest, but not enough to prevent Prayut staying in place until 2025. What happens after that will be interesting...

What happens after that is that the cou try will have been cleaned out of all funds and returned back to a true 3rd world country no matter how hard they keep on trying to become a further developed country.

23 hours ago, smutcakes said:

A few weeks ago their were minutes of a CDC released with Meechai saying it should be counted backwards.... the 180 degree opposite of what he now says...

Why the hell a country has to listen to some senile failed constitution writer who has been at the military beck and call for decades is quite preposterous.... The whole premise of the 8 year rule was designed to prevent people staying to long...

Prevent the WRONG people from staying too long.

But let's not argue with one another. Who disagrees that this 'Constitution' might as well have been written on bog roll for all the use it is?

On 9/7/2022 at 6:51 AM, webfact said:

The documents that were circulated on social media show that Meechai, who has been the constitution drafter for many coup lead governments, thinks that the term of the 2014 coup leader started in April 2017.

Well he would wouldn't he, and stuff what the majority of people not only want, but need ! 

4 hours ago, baboon said:

Prevent the WRONG people from staying too long.

But let's not argue with one another. Who disagrees that this 'Constitution' might as well have been written on bog roll for all the use it is?

Well it was written by the Worlds most prolific writer of failed Constitutions.... How many has this military bootlicker written?

On 9/6/2022 at 6:17 PM, smutcakes said:

A few weeks ago their were minutes of a CDC released with Meechai saying it should be counted backwards.... the 180 degree opposite of what he now says...

Why the hell a country has to listen to some senile failed constitution writer who has been at the military beck and call for decades is quite preposterous.... The whole premise of the 8 year rule was designed to prevent people staying to long...

Doesn't he have a younger sister or something?