Row Over Speaker Clouds Debate: Thailand

[webfact]

POLITICS
Row over Speaker clouds debate
Kittipong Thavevong
The Nation


Parliament President and House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont, left, sits down yesterday and asks his deputy, Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanij, to stop chairing the first day of the House-Senate joint meeting at least for the time being

Opposition says Nikom can't be neutral and proponent of changes

BANGKOK: -- Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanij came under fire on the first day of the parliamentary debate charter changes yesterday for insisting on his right to chair the meeting, despite being one of the proponents of amendments.

Opposition MPs and some senators questioned Nikom's ability to remain neutral as the meeting chair while proponents and opponents of the amendment bills were debating.

The issue, which dominated a large part of the debate, emerged shortly after the joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representa-tives began late yesterday morning. Democrat MPs called on Nikom not to co-chair the meeting with House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranond, saying he would act against the Constitution in doing so, as it was clearly a conflict of interest.

Nikom is also deputy Parliament president ex-officio, while Somsak is the Parliament president by right of office. They both take turns to chair joint meetings of the two chambers.

Somsak, while chairing yesterday's meeting, ruled that Nikom, as a parliamentarian, had the right to support charter amendments. But that failed to satisfy Democrat MPs who continued with their protest against Nikom acting as the meeting chair.

Following lengthy protests and exchange of words between Demo-crat lawmakers and coalition MPs, mainly from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva suggested Somsak ask Nikom to choose whether he would act as a proponent of amendments or as the meeting chair. Somsak agreed to do so and asked the debate to resume.

The issue re-emerged when Nikom took over from Somsak as the meeting chair. He met strong protests from Democrat MPs and some senators who questioned his neutrality. Abhisit asked Nikom whether he would waive his right as the meeting chair for the sake of neutrality.

Nikom, chairing the meeting, insisted he would retain his neutrality and said opposition MPs could bring the case to the Consti-tution Court if they believed he was biased while chairing the meeting.

"I know which hat I am wearing now - what duty I am doing. I will not disappoint you," he said.

The Senate speaker said he supported amendments to Articles 190 and 237 because he believed the current provisions were weakening Thai democracy. Articles 190 requires that the government seeks parliamentary approval on treaties with foreign countries or organisations that affect the country's sovereignty. Article 237 dissolves any party whose executives are found to have abetted electoral fraud.

Pheu Thai MPs, including Sunai Jullapongsathorn, backed Nikom saying he had done nothing wrong and did not show he was siding with amendment proponents. They hit out at Democrat MPs for their repeated protests.

Nikom appeared irritated after opposition MPs warned the meeting would be marred by protests if he continued to act as chair. But he insisted he was not breaking any rules. Somsak had to intervene by taking Nikom's place. He said he would discuss the matter later those involved.

In addition to Articles 190 and 237, coalition MPs and senators also proposed amendment to Article 68 and some clauses regarding the Senate to require that all senators be elected. The opponents said the proposed amendments, particularly Article 68, would curb the people's right to protect the charter. The amendment would prevent people from petitioning the Constitution Court in cases where they found attempts to overthrow the country's democratic regime . The court ruled last year that Article 68 let people to petition with both the attorney-general and the court directly.


-- The Nation 2013-04-02

[chainarong]

Good to see and unbiased opinion appearing here Christ these people have the hide of a elephant and the brains of a nat

[webfact]

Constitution debate stutters as Democrats protest, walk out

BANGKOK, 2 April 2013 (NNT) - The parliamentary meeting yesterday stuttered the whole day as MPs from Opposition Democrat party spent almost the whole day protesting and ended by walking out of the meeting.

Democrat MPs complained that Senate Speaker Nikhom Wairatpanich had no legitimacy in chairing the meeting, since he had earlier signed up to support some of the bills that the parliament was due to debate. They asked Mr Nikhom to withdraw his support of the bills, or stop chairing the meeting.

As Mr Nikhom insisted on chairing the meeting, pointing out that it was impossible for the House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont to chair the meeting alone for three days, Democrat party MPs disrupted speeches by coalition MPs and senators by protesting. The protests went on almost throughout the day.

Mr Somsak came to chair the meeting for a period of time, but soon after Mr Nikhom returned to take the chair, protests erupted again, which ended in a walkout by Democrat MPs.

The meeting was a joint meeting between the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was due to discuss three draft bills seeking to amend the 2007 Constitution. The first bill would revoke the Constitution Court's power to dissolve political parties and ban all party executives in case a single party executive is found to have violated the election law. The second bill would cancel the 2007 Constitution's requirement that any agreement with a foreign government must be approved by parliament first. The third bill would replace a half-elected, half-appointed senate with a wholly elected senate.


-- NNT 2013-04-02

[mic6ard]

The dem does make sense with this one. You can't really be chairing a discussion if you propose the issue.

Edited April 2, 2013 by mic6ard

[chainarong]

The dem does make sense with this one. You can't really be chairing a discussion if you propose the issue.

looks like in Thai you can , the look on he's face say's it all, whats da problem Da

[webfact]

Charter debate continues, opposition chases Senate chief from chair
By Digital Media



BANGKOK, April 2 – A joint parliamentary debate on three bills, proposed by the ruling Pheu Thai party, to rewrite the Constitution entered its second day this morning amid a continued opposition protest against the Senate speaker chairing the meeting.

The legislation, separately spearheaded by three groups of Lower House MPs and Senators, calls for amendments of many sections of the Constitution, which has been in force since 2007.

Jurin Laksanawisit, Democrat party chief whip, said the opposition stood firm that Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanich must refrain from chairing the meeting as his impartiality is in question and the opposition sees a conflict of interest in officially endorsing the amendment bills.

Mr Nikom earlier signed his support to advocate the bills to revise Sections 68, 190 and 237 of the Constitution. His alleged impartiality stirred protests for over four hours during yesterday’s debate. Some Democrats finally walked out in strong disagreement at his chairing the session.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the whips of both supporters opponents should talk if the Democrat party stood firm against Mr Nikom’s chairmanship in the debate.

As Senate Speaker, Mr Nikom automatically assumes the role of Parliament deputy speaker. Lower House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont is Speaker of Parliament.

The ruling Pheu Thai party and the opposition bloc are equally allocated 15 hours for the debate in the House, scheduled to end tomorrow, while senators are given eight hours. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-04-02

[Thaddeus]

Are some of these ministers requesting permission to go to the toilet, or something more sinister?

[rubl]

Trust me, apart from being a politician I also know which hat I'm wearing ... and who gave it to me :-)

[Nickymaster]

Somsak and Nikom are honest straightforward people. You can see that just by looking at them...

[mca]

I'm not saying I'm God's gift to women in the looks department and I know it's unfair to comment on other people's appearance when I'm not exactly Armani model material myself but Christ on a bike!

[rubl]

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the whips of both supporters opponents should talk if the Democrat party stood firm against Mr Nikoms chairmanship in the debate.

Preferably before the end of debate?

BTW was our PM present during the debate (insert confused smiley)

[kotsak]

and here is the appropriate chase music..

[Thai at Heart]

What is a Speaker Cloud? Is it caused by an emotional explosion when you ask him the wrong questions?

[muttley]

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the whips of both supporters opponents should talk if the Democrat party stood firm against Mr Nikoms chairmanship in the debate.

Preferably before the end of debate?

BTW was our PM present during the debate (insert confused smiley)

Why would the Dutch Prime Minister be there?

[thaicbr]

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the whips of both supporters opponents should talk if the Democrat party stood firm against Mr Nikoms chairmanship in the debate.

Preferably before the end of debate?

BTW was our PM present during the debate (insert confused smiley)

Why would the Dutch Prime Minister be there?

Ohhhh ho ho ho. So funny. Personally I live here and pay taxes so yes Yingluck is my PM. What happens can effect my life. Muttley do you live in Thailand?

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[khunken]

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the whips of both supporters opponents should talk if the Democrat party stood firm against Mr Nikoms chairmanship in the debate.

Preferably before the end of debate?

BTW was our PM present during the debate (insert confused smiley)

Why would the Dutch Prime Minister be there?

As far as I know Rubl lives in Bangkok just like I do. My PM is Yingluck.

What this debate shows is that, from the DL down, PTP & its forerunners don't understand (or care) what a conflict of interest is. There again, it is probably acceptable to those who think that corruption, nepotism, vote buying & being dictated to - are all part of democracy.

[bigbamboo]

OK, what you reckon we will get to see first.......... PTP's constitution or Thailand's first high speed train?

[Pimay1]

OK, what you reckon we will get to see first.......... PTP's constitution or Thailand's first high speed train?

Not sure but it is a given they will aquire the trillions funding and dump it into the feeding trough first.

[rubl]

Terribly sorry not to reply on the confusion on PM's. I'm still celebrating my 10,000 posts written since 2002-12-13. Filled with nostalgia and soon a few beer I just went through my archive and even found this:

From: [email protected][[email protected]]
Subject: Registration at Thailand Expat Forum
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 00:20:19 +0100

Email from forum.thaivisa.com

rubl,

Thank you for registering at Thailand Expat Forum.

Please keep these details safe. You will not be able to log into the board unless you use these details.
=====================================================
Member Name: rubl

[rbrooks]

What is a Speaker Cloud? Is it caused by an emotional explosion when you ask him the wrong questions?

It's a special green matter appearing after a government official lets a fart rip!

[ginjag]

What is a Speaker Cloud? Is it caused by an emotional explosion when you ask him the wrong questions?

It's a special green matter appearing after a government official lets a fart rip!

No I think it's dust------- but your version could be correct----they are all smart fellers 55555

[ZhouZhou]

Democrat party MPs disrupted speeches by coalition MPs and senators by protesting. The protests went on almost throughout the day.

Mr Somsak came to chair the meeting for a period of time, but soon after Mr Nikhom returned to take the chair, protests erupted again, which ended in a walkout by Democrat MPs.

In lack of arguments - disturb.

what a weak show by the democrats.

[thaicbr]

Democrat party MPs disrupted speeches by coalition MPs and senators by protesting. The protests went on almost throughout the day.

Mr Somsak came to chair the meeting for a period of time, but soon after Mr Nikhom returned to take the chair, protests erupted again, which ended in a walkout by Democrat MPs.

In lack of arguments - disturb.

what a weak show by the democrats.

In lack of unbiased house speaker- Nikhom. What a fixed show by PT.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6