Samak Elected Pm With 310 Votes

[grantbkk]

Samak elected PM with 310 votes

People Power Party leader Samak Sundaravej was elected as the new prime minister with 310 votes.

Democrat Party leader Ahbisit Vejjajiva got 163 votes.

Nearly all present coalition MPs vote for Samak, except Samak himself and the House speaker.

Three MPs abstained and one was absent

The roll call voting was held after MPs disputed for 2 hours and 40 minutes as to whether a debate should be held before the voting.

The Nation Breaking News 28 January 2008 at 2158 hours

[esprit]

So the renaissance is complete with Samak Sundaravej being PM. So what next ? well they could be:

1) All of Toxins charges againsts him ( and his family and cronies) will now be dropped as politically inspired

2) TRT dissolution will be overturned

2) 2007 Constitution will be revoked and replaced with previous

3) Samak will call a snap election in September

4) A New party will be formed, call themselves TRT ( 2008) Ltd headed by Toxin and sweep to power

5) Don Mueang will finally be closed ( again) with the complex re-developed as the largest most expensive shopping Mall in the world, managed by Shinawatra Retail Ltd.

[Lilawadee]

So the renaissance is complete with Samak Sundaravej being PM. So what next ? well they could be:

1) All of Toxins charges againsts him ( and his family and cronies) will now be dropped as politically inspired.

That's unlikely because the courts are independent. Of course Thaksin now has a better chance at clearing his name compared to the time the junta was in direct power.

2) TRT dissolution will be overturned

Possible, but in order not to create unnecessary polarization this is unlikely to be very high on the agenda. Mr. Surapong has said recently that such matters won't be on the agenda for at least another 6 months.

2) 2007 Constitution will be revoked and replaced with previous

That would indeed be very nice, but it's completely impossible; this requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, where half the senators are appointed, not elected, by comittee. I'm afraid Thailand will be stuck with this one for quite some time. Not that constitutions mean all that much of course, the Thai military have shown enough times in the past that they can just come in and shred the thing.

3) Samak will call a snap election in September

Yes. It's very likely he'll do that whenever the situation is significantly more favourable for him and PPP than it is today.

4) A New party will be formed, call themselves TRT ( 2008) Ltd headed by Toxin and sweep to power

Possible, but I think it's equally likely for him to take it easy for the time being. Also, there's no need and would polarize the country further. If anything I see a new person come in and actually make inroads in parts of the country that are staunchly anti-Thaksin.

5) Don Mueang will finally be closed ( again)

YES! That would be one of the best things to do. Of course after properly adding the final improvements to Suvarnabhumi.

with the complex re-developed as the largest most expensive shopping Mall in the world, managed by Shinawatra Retail Ltd.

Well that would be surprising to say the least, especially because the Royal Thai Airforce owns the land. So... I don't think this item is one of the stronger predictions.

[pete_r]

The roll call voting was held after MPs disputed for 2 hours and 40 minutes as to whether a debate should be held before the voting.

Good one

[Jai Dee]

Topic already running in the news forum here.

/Closed.