Opinions differ on "interim Thai government"

[webfact]

POLITICS
Opinions differ on "interim government"
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A leader of anti-government protesters demanded the government immediately relinquish its administrative power after House dissolution, amid differing opinions on the status of the interim government.

Sathit Wongnongtoey, former Democrat MP and a core protest leader, told Thai PBS "The government has no choice as the government caused this chaos. It's what the people want and this is why there's uprising."

To the TV station, Charupong Ruangsuwan, Pheu Thai Party leader and interior minister, said the Constitution's Article 181 stipulates after House dissolution, the current government must be in charge until the next government is formed.

"Even though I don't want to hold the Cabinet position, I must. If they want to overrule this, it's tantamount to tearing the Constitution," he said.

Pheu Thai and other coalition parties yesterday announced that they would leave it to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to decide whether the House would be dissolved. The announcement followed the Democrat Party's decision to have all 152 MPs resign.

Sathit reiterated that the government could relinquish the administrative power immediately after the House is dissolved, under the Constitution's Section 7.

"The government can express in writing that it no longer wants to retain the power," he said.

Section 7 stipulates "Whenever no provision under this Constitution is applicable to any case, it shall be decided in accordance with the constitutional convention in the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State."

Yuthaporn Issarachai, dean of political science at Sukhothai Thammathirat University, said at a seminar on December 6, that the Section 7 was designed to plug constitutional loopholes as the Constitution could not be written to cover all human behaviours. As the government and the House of Representatives - the key establishments under the Constitution, still can function, no action can be enforced under the Section 7.


-- The Nation 2013-12-09

[tragickingdom]

Kim Il Un has no reservations about it An interim Thai government is great. He does it all the time. No elections, he knows what is best for the country and who are good people, just like Suthep. And just Like Kin Il Un Suthep and Abhisit (who are born losers and cannot win elections because they have only heard about rural Thailand but never seen it) will agree on new elections when they have screwed democracy a bit more. Not only appointed senators but also appointed members of parliament, just enough to tip the balance if the democrat party is defeated with a 3 to 1 margin.

[pookiki]

Here's the rub. If Yingluck acquiesces to the formation of a People's Council at this time, the elections will never see the light of day. The Council will rewrite the Constitution and will not submit it to a referendum. Of course, a coup is still a real possibility and will produce the same result as the People's Council.

Edited December 9, 2013 by pookiki