Thaksin Takes Back Acting Caretaker Pm Position

[sriracha john]

Thaksin back in PM’s chair

By ThaiDay 4 May 2006 01:59

Thaksin Shinawatra is set to resume his caretaker prime minister duties tomorrow after allowing deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit to head the government for several weeks, the Government Spokesman’s Office said yesterday.

According to the office of Surapong Suebwonglee, the government spokesman, Thaksin is expected to lead the Cabinet in an audience with His Majesty the King during a special ceremony on Coronation Day tomorrow.

Thaksin will also host the Garden Party, which is held every year during the Royal celebrations, to honor His Majesty the King at Government House later in the evening.

The Coronation Day celebrations will be the first mission caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin performs after his the announcement of his hiatus.

After announcing on April 4 that he would step down as prime minister when the new government is formed, Thaksin left the official duties of the premiership to Chitchai, who has led the Cabinet meetings for the past four weeks. Thaksin traveled overseas extensively and returned only this week.

[britmaveric]

The Loveable PM is back. Nice holiday, time for work again.

[skippybangkok]

Unbelievable......... After all he has said and done over the last few weeks. Looks like an embarrasment to the country if you ask me.

[sriracha john]

Agree. The "Laughable PM" has been missed. His stand-in Chitchai only has come up with stupid statements.... Thaksin's laughably stupid statements are at least humourous.

Eagerly looking forward to his first laughably stupid statement since returning.

Interesting that in his absence, TRT seems to be falling apart with in-fighting and disunity (as evidenced in the Supreme Court thread).

[sriracha john]

Adding to PM's woes....

William Monson, an American businessman, gestures as he speaks during a joint news conference at parliament house in Bangkok, Thailand. Monson said he has filed criminal charges against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, charging he was embezzled in a cable television deal. The Criminal Court has accepted the case involving a business venture dating back to the late 1980s. The charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

[sriracha john]

TRT wants Thaksin to run in next election

By Daniel Ten Kate 7 May 2006 15:00

Thai Rak Thai party members want their leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, to top the party list if a new election is called after the Constitutional Court decides whether or not to nullify the boycotted April 2 poll, a deputy party spokesman told reporters yesterday.

“If the court were to decide to nullify the election, Thai Rak Thai would accept the court decision and be ready to run in a new election,” said Jatuporn Prompan, a deputy spokesman for the ruling party. “The party leaders have met and discussed this on a regular basis because the political situation is abnormal and the party finished the election not long ago. However, if there is a new election, the newly elected MPs and the 14 million party members want party leader Thaksin to return and to be placed number one on the party list.” The statement serves as the clearest indication yet that Thaksin plans to run for prime minister if a new election is called. Previously, ruling party members have said that nullification would also void Thaksin’s earlier pledge not to stand as premier in the next Parliament.

Almost everyone expects the Constitutional Court to nullify the April 2 election and order a new poll when it announces its verdict on Monday. But ruling party members are still holding out hope that the court will rule in favor of the embattled Election Commission.

“No one knows who is right and who is wrong until the court gives its decision,” said a source close to the ruling party, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The decision will either declare that the election is valid or not valid. If the courts say the election is valid, then the party will push ahead with opening Parliament, fixing the Constitution during the next year and dissolving Parliament again in one year. Many in the party think the courts should not declare that the election is void.” Since the courts have agreed that their decisions would not conflict with each other, similar cases before the Administrative Court and the Criminal Court would likely be decided in accordance with the Constitutional Court. All sides have agreed to accept the courts’ verdict, which would pave the way for Parliament to be opened.

But while this option is favored by many minor parties and TRT lawmakers who are likely to lose their jobs in a new election, it presents a host of other complications. The court’s verdict would then also have to make clear whether Parliament can convene with fewer than 500 MPs – an issue that His Majesty the King addressed in his April 25 speech.

In instructing the country’s top judges to decide whether the election should be nullified, His Majesty said: “If you do not follow legal principles, correct administration principles, the country will not survive as it is today, because there are not enough MPs to fill the quorum of 500. It cannot function. You have to consider how to work this out.” If the Administrative Court had not issued an injunction to halt the April 29 by-elections, then all 400 constituencies would now have a lawmaker (legitimate or not) because the 14 remaining constituencies finally all had at least two competitors. The court would then only need to decide whether Thai Rak Thai can appoint another MP to replace lawmaker-turned-monk Premsak Piayura, whose abrupt resignation in March left the ruling party with only 99 party-list MPs.

But as of now, the next Parliament would only have 485 lawmakers. It is unclear whether the court would order the EC to proceed with the by-elections in the 14 MP-less constituencies – not to mention the large number of protests such a decision is likely to generate.

Nevertheless, TRT members are holding out hope that the courts will bless the election and Parliament will still be convened. In their view, that scenario is also the most practical given the state of the country’s finances.

“If the next Parliament only will oversee political reforms anyway, then we will need another two elections,” the source said. “We’ve already spent two billion baht on the last election. It’s very costly.” Either way, His Majesty the King will need to bless any new Parliament. According to Article 161 of the Constitution, the King “convokes the National Assembly, opens and prorogues its session.” Since a new election would be contested by all parties, the resulting Parliament would face none of the legitimacy questions hanging over the current National Assembly. Though some in the party think Thaksin should take a break, the lack of an obvious successor and infighting among several factions may make it essential that the premier return.

Since returning from a trip where he met with various foreign leaders, Thaksin has been mum on his political future. But he did reclaim acting prime minister duties this week in order to participate in Coronation Day ceremonies with HM the King yesterday.

“Thaksin still wants to be on the scene and I think he will return,” another party source said on condition of anonymity. “But whether he is prime minister or not, he will still control the party.”

- TD

[Master Chief]

Why not, he has supplied all the low income people with some money and they do not really understand what he tells them, but who cares, he gives good money for them.

Who should replace him, they ask us who complain?

Has anybody an idea for a replacement, they say?

[sriracha john]

Alternatives this time around:

Democrats 'will run in next election'

The Democrat Party is ready to contest a fresh election if the Constitutional Court nullifies the April 2 general election, a spokesman for the party said Sunday.

Party Spokesman Ong-art Klampaibul said the Democrat Party would respect the ruling due to be made by Thailand's Constitutional Court Monday, and that the party would field candidates to contest the new

election if the Court nullified the April 2 election.

The spokesman said even though political reforms have not yet taken place, the "Thaksin regime" still prevails in the country.

Mr. Ong-art said his party would respect and act in accord with the wishes of His Majesty the King regarding the need to break the political impasse even though "the Thaksin regime" still prevails and

members of the Election Commission (EC) were still at their posts.

The Democrat Party, along with two other opposition parties-- Chart Thai and Mahachon--boycotted the April 2 election.

Admitting that every political party would face a tough time in fighting against the government's power, Mr. Ong-art said opposition parties were likely to lose but yet they would fight in order to overcome prevailing political crisis.

He also attacked the EC which had earlier commented that it did not have power to fix an election date, saying that the agency had lost its legitimacy and recognition by people in the society. -(TNA)

- BP

[penzman]

I must admit the circus clown act isn't the same without him.

[OldAsiaHand]

....Has anybody an idea for a replacement, they say?....

Not a bad question either, me thinks.

It looks to me like we're going to have another election, so maybe we'll find out. Thais seem to have elections like they have holidays: often, and more or less at random.

Why are all these prior posters raising blood heck about Big Tak running as head of TRT whenever this new election is eventually mandated? He is after all the head of TRT. He started the party in the first place. Who declared the man ineligible for public office (other than a bunch of insufferably self-righteous posters on this forum)?

If he does run, it seems to me that the people who actually matter here (not most of us) will have the final say. Big Tak and TRT will either be returned to government or kicked out. And that will settle the matter. Or at least it ought to, because that's why we have elections for in the first place.

[Diablo Bob]

....Has anybody an idea for a replacement, they say?....

(other than a bunch of insufferably self-righteous posters on this forum)?

When did you wake up from your coma, Luke? Still a little dis-oriented?

I believe that in one of your past posts when you were still lucid, you went on and on about honesty.

Do you really feel that it is honest of Taksin to say he is back in the race, when he stated for the record that he would not accept the post of pm again prior to his world wide rejection tour.

And yes, I am one of those insufferable self-righteous posters you dislike so much......

Edited May 7, 2006 by Diablo Bob

[sriracha john]

CPD pre-empts Thaksin's return

- TN

08/05/06

There are six reasons why caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra should not run in the next general election if the April 2 election is nullified, Suriyasai Katasila, secretary general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said yesterday.

First, Thaksin announced he would take a break from politics on April 4 and a politician is bound to keep his word.

Second, Thaksin called on other parties to take one step back and they had done as Thaksin asked. The following events also signalled that Thaksin understood that he was the cause of the political turmoil, because after his announcement political tension eased.

Third, a country's leader should prioritise his duties and responsibility to the country over his personal rights - rights which have to be legitimately backed.

Fourth, Thaksin no longer has the credibility needed to rule the country, because he was the cause behind the public division and he failed to secure a reconciliation. And a good percentage of society are still unhappy about the way he used his power to help his relatives during his five year tenure.

In addition, the subsequent election crisis was also caused by Thaksin's abuse of power, due to his interference in the independent agencies and dissolution of the House. If any court nullifies the election and organises a new round of elections and Thaksin is allowed to join the race, this problem would persist.

Fifth, a new round of political reform would be overshadowed by Thaksin if he is given a political post. The new political reform, which is on the national agenda, would continue to raise suspicions and would therefore be unlikely to succeed.

Sixth, if the party still presented Thaksin as its leader it would show that the Thai Rak Thai Party had either made no attempts to, or been unable to find someone suitable to replace him.

Meanwhile, Banyin Tangpakorn, Thai Rak Thai's Nakhon Sawan MP-elect, said if Thaksin is forced to take a political break in the next election, other parties' leaders should also be banned from running.

"We should all have to play by the same rules," he said.

Bangkok Herald-Examiner addendum:

When questioned by reporters about the fact that none of the other party leaders were stupid and that Thaksin alone had been ignorant enough to make such un-retractable proclamations, Khun Banyin sheepishly admitted, "Hmmm... yeah... you're right. I hadn't thought about that."

Left to admit that his logic was faulty, Khun Banyin, softly mumbled, "Gosh... Thaksin really is a brainless moron, isn't he?"

Edited May 7, 2006 by sriracha john

[OldAsiaHand]

....And yes, I am one of those insufferable self-righteous posters you dislike so much......

I couldn't have summed it up any better than that. Isn't confession good for the soul?