Pro-government Senator Voted As Senate Speaker

[george]

Pro-government senator voted as Thailand's Senate speaker

BANGKOK, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand's deputy Senate speaker Suchon Chaleekrua on Friday became the Senate speaker by winning half of the chamber votes.

Suchon, throwing his hat into the ring in less than one month time, won 99 votes of the 198 voters attended, easily beating the other three candidates respectively with 59, 22 and 15 votes. Two senators were absent from Friday's voting.

The 52-year-old Suchon has been described as a pro-government runner by media, for he reportedly made the final decision to run for the post after being approached by several key players from the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party.

Besides, the senators intimate ties with many influential politicians and highweight military figures also painted himself an image of being close to the government, a stance criticized by the opposition as affecting the Senate's impartiality.

His close political ties Thai Rak Thai's chief adviser Sanoh Thienthong was known to have stretched back many decades to a timewhen the he was a teacher.

The victory of Suchon, however, was no surprise to the campaignwith opposition crying foul and the candidates keep changing.

Most of Thailand's newspapers published stories predicting Suchon's victory several hours before the voting started on Fridaymorning.

Suchon also took the office of acting Senator speaker one monthago when his predecessor Manoonkrit Roopkachorn resigned under pressure. Manoonkrit was also one of contenders for Friday's vote.Enditem

--Agencies 2004-02-20

[george]

'The Senate is already out of business'

Political observers have expressed concerns about the rise of Suchon Chaleekrua to the post of Senate Speaker, saying the check-and-balance system was coming to an end.

"The Senate is already out of business," lamented Somkiat Pongpaiboon, an academic at the Rajabhat Institute in Nakhon Ratchasima, upon hearing Suchon had taken the helm in the upper house. Because the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is believed to back Suchon, his 99 of 197 eligible votes reflected the fact the number of senators aligned to the government was increasing and would soon control the Senate, Somkiat said.

He said he believed the upper house, which is supposed to scrutinise the government, was becoming paralysed, because the majority of its members had "surrendered" to Thaksin. With less than two years of its six-year term served, Somkiat said the Senate would in the future have difficulty establishing just what it stood for: scrutinising the government, or serving it. Political scientist Prayat Hongthongkam said he was concerned the government would soon be able to exercise its power without any opposition. He said the government's majority had stepped beyond the House. Apart from controversial "independent" agencies such as the National Counter Corruption Commission and the Constitution Court, cronyism now existed in the Senate, said Prayat.

He said he thought any controversial bills passed to the upper house would in the future enjoy smooth passage. Prayat said the Senate's role would soon be enormously undermined - to a level at which the public would doubt just who it served - the people or the government. Thai Rak Thai spokesman Suranan Vejjajiva, meanwhile, denied Suchon had close ties with the government, or that the ruling party had lobbied senators to secure votes."It's usual when such allegations come to light that we have done nothing," said Suranan.

Activist Suriyasai Katasila said the government now had absolute power, after planting its own people at the helm of significant institutions in the Kingdom.

--The Nation 2004-02-21