Pheu Thai Set To Target Abhisit

[webfact]

Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

By THE NATION

The opposition party has started drafting its no-confidence motion, meant to zero in on the prime minister as the primary target for censure, Pheu Thai MP Mingkwan Sangsuwan said yesterday.

"The opposition MPs queuing up to grill the government will be capped at 20 so there is enough time to marshal substantial evidence for each grilling session," he said.

Mingkwan said that he would first assess the political situation before deciding on the best timing for the censure debate. It would cover corruption, as well as government policies on the economy, politics, international relations and national security.

He reiterated his earlier statement that senior party colleague Chalerm Yoobamrung would eventually join the debate.

Mingkwan also reminded television news anchors to ensure that they use updated clips when covering the censure or House meetings. Recently, a television channel used a photograph of Pheu Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh when covering a legislative meeting even though the politician was not present at that or other parliamentary gatherings, he said.

Pheu Thai MP Surapong Towijakchaikul said several surveys showed that people wanted to listen to Chalerm the most. "He should join the debate and Mingkwan should arrange for that. This would be the first test for Mingkwan's leadership qualities," he said.

In reaction to the planned censure debate, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had nothing against the opposition doing its job to check on the government's performance. He also dismissed speculation that the government might hasten to dissolve the House in order to escape being grilled.

"Censure debate is a beautiful attribute of democracy because it shows that the checking mechanism is at work, and I welcome this opportunity to show and explain the government's performance," he said.

In response to Mingkwan leading the grilling, Suthep said he had no particular preference in regard to the oratory style for censure debates.

As for when a snap election might be called, he said he could not predict the poll date because it was up to the premier, though the Democrat Party was prepared to contest an election at any time.

He said he also believed that the People's Alliance for Democracy protest would come to an end before the general election. He did not think the rally would derail a poll.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

[Buchholz]

He reiterated his earlier statement that senior party colleague Chalerm Yoobamrung would eventually join the debate.

Notable PTP MP bigwigs refused to attend the press conference at which Mingkwan made the above announcement at Parliament, even though they were all close by. They included the aforementioned Pheu Thai Party MP Chairman Chalerm, the Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya Buranasiri, and Phrae's PTP MP Worawat Ua-apinyakul.

Chalerm has repeatedly stated he will not participate in the debate:

Chalerm Opts Out Of Censure Debate

Pheu Thai MP Surapong Towijakchaikul said several surveys showed that people wanted to listen to Chalerm the most. "He should join the debate and Mingkwan should arrange for that. This would be the first test for Mingkwan's leadership qualities," he said.

Surapong isn't the only way viewing the censure debate as a test for Mingkwan...

Interesting article in the other paper which indicates that Thaksin is only reciprocating on Mingkwan to become Party Leader by acknowledging Mingkwan's own financial contributions to the Pheu Thai Party.

It's also apparently a set up for failure as he has assigned Mingkwan to lead the censure debate and he has zero prior experience with that.

With this expected task failure, Thaksin will then shift his support to a new Party Leader, the one he has apparently wanted all along...

his younger sister, Yingluk Shinawatra;

who the sources said is expected to become Party Leader before the next general election.

Edited February 3, 2011 by Buchholz

[whybother]

The question is, WHEN are they going to have the debate? What are they waiting for?

Maybe, they're waiting for Abhisit to dissolve parliament so they can say "See, they're scared to have the debate".

[timekeeper]

Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

so whats new?

[animatic]

Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

so whats new?

Exactly, this is news?

It's like the bi-annual amateur chorus girls holiday outing,

ok ladies up with the legs, lets show them what you've got...

Auntie Mink is leading the cheers this year, try and look sharp.

[jayjay0]

Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

so whats new?

Thanks for that.

I thought I had missed some thing.

Wouldn't it be nice if they decided to do what they were elected to do and try to improve Thailand.

The bottom line for them is bring Thaksin back.

They should all be barred from politics until they have completed a course on how best to serve your country.

[phiphidon]

He reiterated his earlier statement that senior party colleague Chalerm Yoobamrung would eventually join the debate.

Notable PTP MP bigwigs refused to attend the press conference at which Mingkwan made the above announcement at Parliament, even though they were all close by. They included the aforementioned Pheu Thai Party MP Chairman Chalerm, the Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya Buranasiri, and Phrae's PTP MP Worawat Ua-apinyakul.

Chalerm has repeatedly stated he will not participate in the debate:

Chalerm Opts Out Of Censure Debate

http://www.thaivisa....__fromsearch__1

Pheu Thai MP Surapong Towijakchaikul said several surveys showed that people wanted to listen to Chalerm the most. "He should join the debate and Mingkwan should arrange for that. This would be the first test for Mingkwan's leadership qualities," he said.

Surapong isn't the only way viewing the censure debate as a test for Mingkwan...

Interesting article in the other paper which indicates that Thaksin is only reciprocating on Mingkwan to become Party Leader by acknowledging Mingkwan's own financial contributions to the Pheu Thai Party.

It's also apparently a set up for failure as he has assigned Mingkwan to lead the censure debate and he has zero prior experience with that.

With this expected task failure, Thaksin will then shift his support to a new Party Leader, the one he has apparently wanted all along...

his younger sister, Yingluk Shinawatra;

who the sources said is expected to become Party Leader before the next general election.

Make your mind up. In one of your numerous posts on this forum you had already announced that Yingluck Shinawatra has turned down the opportunity to become Party Leader as she wishes to concentrate on her business interests so what is the point of requoting an earlier post of yours suggesting the opposite - Oh I see, it mentions Thaksin.

[SomTumTiger]

Make your mind up. In one of your numerous posts on this forum you had already announced that Yingluck Shinawatra has turned down the opportunity to become Party Leader as she wishes to concentrate on her business interests so what is the point of requoting an earlier post of yours suggesting the opposite - Oh I see, it mentions Thaksin.

I love it when Bucholtz gets a rise out of phiphidon :jap:

[Buchholz]

Make your mind up. In one of your numerous posts on this forum you had already announced that Yingluck Shinawatra has turned down the opportunity to become Party Leader as she wishes to concentrate on her business interests so what is the point of requoting an earlier post of yours suggesting the opposite - Oh I see, it mentions Thaksin.

I don't need to make my mind up, the Shinawatras' do.

I didn't announce any such thing, the other paper, AKA the BP, did.

If you read the posts subsequent to that news being posted, you'll find a number of doubters as to the validity of Yingluck's turning down the position, hence it's reposting here in light of Mingkwan's taking on the position of Censure Debate Leader. It seems right in line with Thaksin's earlier comments in that Mingkwan is getting set up for failure, thus presenting an opportunity for Yingluck to move in.

[webfact]

Mingkwan seen as image booster for Pheu Thai

BANGKOK, 3 February 2011 (NNT) – The image of the opposition Pheu Thai Party seems better after former Prime Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan has been chosen to lead the opposition in the next censure debate against the government.

The comment came from Government Chief Whip Witthaya Kaewparadai who said the change in leader of the opposition’s debating team was seen more favorable to the party as the society perceived that Pheu Thai Party would be engaged less in street-side politics and would show more compromises.

The government chief whip stated that the society has been expecting high from Mr Mingkwan, especially in economic aspects. Mr Witthaya however deemed Mr Mingkwan unsuccessful in dealing with economic problems when he served as commerce minister.

Mr Witthaya then voiced his readiness for the censure debate. He said if Pheu Thai Party filed the motion on 11 February 2011, the debate could take place in the following week after the list of motion supporters has been checked and the government informed of the motion.

Asked if the proposed censure debate and prolonged demonstration of the People’s Alliance for Democracy will become factors to accelerate a House dissolution, the government chief whip responded that the Prime Minister has not yet fix the date of House dissolution and he believed it would be made under appropriate circumstances.

-- NNT 2011-02-03

[Buchholz]

Notable PTP MP bigwigs refused to attend the press conference at which Mingkwan made the above announcement at Parliament, even though they were all close by. They included

the Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya Buranasiri

Mr Witthaya however deemed Mr Mingkwan unsuccessful in dealing with economic problems when he served as commerce minister.

Another ringing endorsement from Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya

[rubl]

Mr Witthaya however deemed Mr Mingkwan unsuccessful in dealing with economic problems when he served as commerce minister.

Another ringing endorsement from Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya

To be fair as MoC in the Samak government 2008 any Commerce minister would have had a very difficult time to perform. 2008 was also when the international banking crisis really got into swing.

[Scott]

One off-topic, distasteful remark was removed. Please stay on topic.

[Buchholz]

Mr Witthaya however deemed Mr Mingkwan unsuccessful in dealing with economic problems when he served as commerce minister.

Another ringing endorsement from Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya

To be fair as MoC in the Samak government 2008 any Commerce minister would have had a very difficult time to perform. 2008 was also when the international banking crisis really got into swing.

Perhaps Witthaya was referring to any number of incidents during Mingkwan's very brief stint of 6 months as Commerce Minister:

Mingkwan asserted that the tourism industry has the potential to generate as much as 1.5 Trillion Baht, or 4.2 times more than its present revenue of 350 Billion Baht per year

The Nation / 2008-02-07

Democrat MP Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich held a press conference claiming that Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan secretly signed the Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership pact (AJCEP) on April 11, which she said was a possible legal violation. According to law, the Commerce Minister was required to put the issue before a public hearing before going ahead with the signing of the pact. His actions have now raised concerns about a hidden agenda. "The signed deal was not done through a public hearing according to article 190 of the Constitution and there are now growing concerns that the country will feel the negative repercussions of this deal," said Khunying Kalaya. "We would like to urge the government to make public, details of this pact because the people have a right to know."

2008-04-24

Commerce Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan plans to patent the full moon party - an idea which an intellectual property law expert calls "impractical". Mr Mingkwan yesterday said he had instructed his officials to patent the full moon party, to prevent other countries from copying Thailand's famous festival. The idea of copyrighting the full moon party, the minister said, came to him after he learned that Singapore had organised a similar party on its artificial island of Sentosa.

2008-05-27

Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan revealed a desire to resign from conflicts with the Finance Ministry over the direction of the government’s economic policies and says he’s being targeted for obstructing the benefits to an unknown influential person. It has been reported that Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan had complained to his close associates in the People Power party about conflicts over policies on fertilizers, rice, and pork with the Finance Ministry as his ideas obstruct the benefits of who he calls ‘the big man.’

2008-06-12

Another 288 tonnes of paddy from government warehouses have gone missing, according to Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan. The missing paddy comes on top of 13,000 tonnes of milled rice estimated to be missing from the 2.1 million tonnes of official stockpiles. Mingkwan acknowledged yesterday that high rice prices had led to increased theft from government warehouses and fraud by millers seeking to turn rapid profits.

2008-06-14

Deputy Prime Minister and commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan will soon announce his resignation because he is feeling depressed at the lack of support from the People Power Party. A source, who works close to Mingkwan, said Dr Olarn Chaipravat, now an adviser to Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, is a candidate to replace Mingkwan. "Mingkwan feels very depressed because his own party does not give any support to his work. The party has also put pressure on Mingkwan and intervened in all the matters under his responsibility such as the rice policy," the source said.

2008-06-18

Mingkwan Saengsuwan was removed as deputy prime minister and commerce minister but took over the ministry of industry portfolio, replacing Suwit Khunkitti who announced earlier that he decided to pull his Puea Pandin Party out of coalition government, while former Health Minister Chaiya Somsab, who was forced to leave office, came back as commerce Minister.

2008-08-02

[patjem]

Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

so whats new?

Thanks for that.

I thought I had missed some thing.

Wouldn't it be nice if they decided to do what they were elected to do and try to improve Thailand.

The bottom line for them is bring Thaksin back.

They should all be barred from politics until they have completed a course on how best to serve your country.

Only a small correction, Jay, they ain't elected, but gather what you're saying and agree

Edited February 5, 2011 by craigt3365
Moved reply outside previous post