Thai Air Force opens its HQ for election postponement forum, EC doesn't attend

[webfact]

Air Force opens its HQ for election postponement forum



BANGKOK: -- The Air Force this morning opened its headquarters at Don Muang for all relevant government agencies and independent organizations to take part in the caretaker prime minister-initiated forum to discuss the postponement of the February 2 general election as earlier proposed by the Election Commission.

The meeting today was chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

But key players in the forum such as the Election Commission and the Auditor-General did not attend.

Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva also did not attend, same as the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC).

The five commissioners of the Election Committee instead designed only its secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong to attend the forum.

Caretaker prime minister proposed the forum and extended invitation to more than 70 persons who included Armed Forces commander-in-chief, the 5-member Election Commission, all leaders of political parties, the Auditor-General, Democrat party, PDRC, the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to join.

But the PDRC and Democrat leaders have rejected the invitation reasoning that the caretaker prime minister now lacks the legitimate right to call meeting.

The EC came up with the proposed February 2 election postponement after the Auditor-General questioned the holding of the election amid the current political turmoil and asked whether the election will worth the 3.8 billion baht fund and could be a waste if it is void.

Following the auditor-general’s advice, the Election Commission agreed to notify the government to put off the election, reasoning understaffing problem and the troubles ahead.

Ms Yingluck hoped the forum to resolve the political stalemate and ease the protest tension.

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/air-force-opens-hq-election-postponement-forum/


-- Thai PBS 2014-01-15

[geriatrickid]

I was ready to slam the EC because of the misleading headline. However, its secretary general attended. That is all that was required.

[webfact]

Meeting to discuss delay of election starts Wednesday

BANGKOK: -- A government-sponsored meeting held to discuss the Election Commission (EC)’s suggestion to delay the February 2 poll started at 10.30am Wednesday.

Caretaker PrimeYingluck Shinawatra attended the meeting with about 70 participants. Meanwhile, five members of the EC did not join, but EC secretary general Puchon Nutrawong represented it at the meeting.

Permanent Secretary for Justice Kittipong Kittayarak, who posted on his Facebook page yesterday that the election should be postponed for three to six months, did not join the meeting. The Democrat Party and the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) that held mass rallies in the capital did not send representatives to attend the event.


-- The Nation 2014-01-15

[Thailand]

Very Democratic of the Dems, but are there any of them left that could have any influence or worthwhile anyway?

[icommunity]

"But the PDRC and Democrat leaders have rejected the invitation reasoning that the caretaker prime minister now lacks the legitimate right to call meeting." Clearly show that they created the chaos and want them to continue. They are not interested in solving problems and want the country and the people to suffer for the benefits of the few old elites and old military's clans, and families. BTW, who has the legitimate right to call meeting to solve an unconstitutional proposal to the caretaker government? The government could ignore it or rebuff the commissioners for coming out with such unconstitutional proposal in a written letter to the government. it is a kind gesture of the caretaker government and should be commented.

As it seems, it is better to leave the election problems to the EC commissioners who created them from the start.They are trying to shift the blame to the government. If they don't solve their problems and answer to their unconstitutional proposal, legal action should be taken against them.

What legal authority the caretaker government has to put off the election. This notification from the Commissioners has also violated the law. Coming up with understaffing problem and the troubles ahead are excuses not reasons. Decision based on conjecture is poor leadership and poor administration.

[Scamper]

This stupid, stupid meeting has been set up by the administration in an attempt to deflect from the authority of the EC, by " inviting " them to " join " a forum that is to debate the very things that the EC was empowered to do, and which the EC has long since given their official recommendation. So no one is buying into this, with the notable exception of the red shirt movement. So there is Yingluck looking officious sitting next to Thaksin's cousin, Surapong - together " playing house ". Problem is, the adults stayed away. And this takes us no further towards a solution than anything the administration has come up with. Yingluck's decision to quietly step down two days ago was the most sensible decision she has ever made. Unfortunately, the opinion of her brother prevails.

[siampolee]

Ms Yingluck hoped the forum to resolve the political stalemate and ease the protest tension.

Sadly it is the ongoing corruption the attempted manipulation of the constitution the proposed amnesty bill along with nepotism by this Thaksin puppet government and its clone Prime Minister that has led us down this road.

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

[ggold]

I was ready to slam the EC because of the misleading headline. However, its secretary general attended. That is all that was required.

I think the point is that it was the secretary to the commissioner, and purely as an observer! I think the EC have said the forum was inappropriate due to the number of people. Even the democrats did not go.

Besides this is another smoke screen by PTP to make it look as if they are doing what the PDRC want, when it is just PTP hanging on at all costs!

[smutcakes]

Ms Yingluck hoped the forum to resolve the political stalemate and ease the protest tension.

Sadly it is the ongoing corruption the attempted manipulation of the constitution the proposed amnesty bill along with nepotism by this Thaksin puppet government and its clone Prime Minister that has led us down this road.

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

They are all up in arms about this 'manipulation' of the constitution, but are all happy to ignore what the constitution says when demanding the elections are delayed.............

[NongKhaiKid]

This stupid, stupid meeting has been set up by the administration in an attempt to deflect from the authority of the EC, by " inviting " them to " join " a forum that is to debate the very things that the EC was empowered to do, and which the EC has long since given their official recommendation. So no one is buying into this, with the notable exception of the red shirt movement. So there is Yingluck looking officious sitting next to Thaksin's cousin, Surapong - together " playing house ". Problem is, the adults stayed away. And this takes us no further towards a solution than anything the administration has come up with. Yingluck's decision to quietly step down two days ago was the most sensible decision she has ever made. Unfortunately, the opinion of her brother prevails.

Channel News Asia is reporting that the Thai Rath party rep(s) walked out at the start of the meeting saying it was pointless as the opposition were not involved.

[jcsmith]

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Your statements get more and more ridiculous every time I read them. If the people want to remove the "Thaksin cancer" all they have to do is vote against it.

Power at any price? Seriously. How about power through the will of the people? I'm not a fan of Thaksin but this is ridiculous. Because a minority of people feel one way they think they can force their rule on everyone else. When it doesn't work they try to rig the game however they can to get into power. Be it making some votes count for more, or forcing the elected party out of power... repeatedly. It's that sense of self-entitlement which causes the dems to lose again and again. A little compromise would go a long way.

[bobdown1]

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Your statements get more and more ridiculous every time I read them. If the people want to remove the "Thaksin cancer" all they have to do is vote against it.

Power at any price? Seriously. How about power through the will of the people? I'm not a fan of Thaksin but this is ridiculous. Because a minority of people feel one way they think they can force their rule on everyone else. When it doesn't work they try to rig the game however they can to get into power. Be it making some votes count for more, or forcing the elected party out of power... repeatedly. It's that sense of self-entitlement which causes the dems to lose again and again. A little compromise would go a long way.

Totally agree with you JC

[spirit47]

The Puppet-show goes on, all what she need is a camera ...

[poisonus]

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Your statements get more and more ridiculous every time I read them. If the people want to remove the "Thaksin cancer" all they have to do is vote against it.

Power at any price? Seriously. How about power through the will of the people? I'm not a fan of Thaksin but this is ridiculous. Because a minority of people feel one way they think they can force their rule on everyone else. When it doesn't work they try to rig the game however they can to get into power. Be it making some votes count for more, or forcing the elected party out of power... repeatedly. It's that sense of self-entitlement which causes the dems to lose again and again. A little compromise would go a long way.

I beg to differ.

I think Siampolee has it exactly right. But then again, his statement points out things that run a lot deeper, and this is because he is capable of understanding complex theory.

You reply shows that your understanding of the situation is a lot more closer to the surface and makes no sense unless you dig deeper. The deeper issues you have clearly omitted.

It is NOT about just simply getting rid of the Thaksin regime via the ballot box, the whole reasoning about reform before elections is to stop the manipulation of the system currently in place that allows successive Thaksin regimes to win elections using corruption and populist policies that are crippling the economy. The paying off of village headsmen to force and intimidate the villagers to accept 500 baht for the PTP vote.... etc. The deadly rice scam that is backfiring thankfully.

You say that the Dems are rigging the game? What do you think Thaksin has been doing for the past 12 years?? He rigs it with a mixture of his own money and the taxpayer's, then gets his money back with massive interest once he is back in power.

Your statement screams out that the status quo is good... But 99% of the population know it isn't and that is including the reds, albeitt they will never admit to knowing. Ask why the rice farmers are out blocking the asia highway? This time not to ask for their money. this time to oust the government.

You clearly have your 'majority' and minority' mixed, things have been sliding away from PTP and Thalsin for months now... All we need now is just one election that is fair and totally corruption free, an election that Thaksin has absolutely no involvement in, and you may well be astounded at where the vote falls.

[Arkady]

It is pretty obvious that the PM hope to invite 70 people, most of whom would support her, to a meeting, so they could have a democratic show of hands and say the majority agrees with her. Very transparent trick that no one fell for.

[Thai at Heart]

Why does this need some huge open forum to.discuss the issue.

[ikke]

Ms Yingluck hoped the forum to resolve the political stalemate and ease the protest tension.

Sadly it is the ongoing corruption the attempted manipulation of the constitution the proposed amnesty bill along with nepotism by this Thaksin puppet government and its clone Prime Minister that has led us down this road.

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Did you sleep the last months ? or you mix up names ? You might be also drunk or stoned, but Suthep is the one who wants power at any price... manipulation of the constitution is what the yellows did, wake up, get yourself back on the rack of reality .....

I don't like Taksin, but the forum was rather needed, the scum didn't show up because they are scared to loose, which they will anyway.

[ikke]

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Your statements get more and more ridiculous every time I read them. If the people want to remove the "Thaksin cancer" all they have to do is vote against it.

Power at any price? Seriously. How about power through the will of the people? I'm not a fan of Thaksin but this is ridiculous. Because a minority of people feel one way they think they can force their rule on everyone else. When it doesn't work they try to rig the game however they can to get into power. Be it making some votes count for more, or forcing the elected party out of power... repeatedly. It's that sense of self-entitlement which causes the dems to lose again and again. A little compromise would go a long way.

Totally agree with you JC

Exactly JC, nice add ! Thats also the way the majority in the world thinks about this (yes i read international news papers) so the happy few posters on Tv are just against Taksin, not for any way into democracy .

[Thai at Heart]

Remove the Thaksin cancer from the body of Thai politics and defer the elections and indeed tension will be relieved.

Ironic when one considers the venue of the meeting, perchance instead of airplanes Thaksin is trying to ''fly a diversionary kite'' so as to disguise his true aims . Power at any price

Your statements get more and more ridiculous every time I read them. If the people want to remove the "Thaksin cancer" all they have to do is vote against it.

Power at any price? Seriously. How about power through the will of the people? I'm not a fan of Thaksin but this is ridiculous. Because a minority of people feel one way they think they can force their rule on everyone else. When it doesn't work they try to rig the game however they can to get into power. Be it making some votes count for more, or forcing the elected party out of power... repeatedly. It's that sense of self-entitlement which causes the dems to lose again and again. A little compromise would go a long way.

I beg to differ.

I think Siampolee has it exactly right. But then again, his statement points out things that run a lot deeper, and this is because he is capable of understanding complex theory.

You reply shows that your understanding of the situation is a lot more closer to the surface and makes no sense unless you dig deeper. The deeper issues you have clearly omitted.

It is NOT about just simply getting rid of the Thaksin regime via the ballot box, the whole reasoning about reform before elections is to stop the manipulation of the system currently in place that allows successive Thaksin regimes to win elections using corruption and populist policies that are crippling the economy. The paying off of village headsmen to force and intimidate the villagers to accept 500 baht for the PTP vote.... etc. The deadly rice scam that is backfiring thankfully.

You say that the Dems are rigging the game? What do you think Thaksin has been doing for the past 12 years?? He rigs it with a mixture of his own money and the taxpayer's, then gets his money back with massive interest once he is back in power.

Your statement screams out that the status quo is good... But 99% of the population know it isn't and that is including the reds, albeitt they will never admit to knowing. Ask why the rice farmers are out blocking the asia highway? This time not to ask for their money. this time to oust the government.

You clearly have your 'majority' and minority' mixed, things have been sliding away from PTP and Thalsin for months now... All we need now is just one election that is fair and totally corruption free, an election that Thaksin has absolutely no involvement in, and you may well be astounded at where the vote falls.

Thaksin would probably win. Or at least his party.

This is all about realising that sometimes elections don't deliver an optimal result in any way. Developed countries can survive sub optimal governments because they aren't corrupt and have independent institutions.

(Gordon Brown being an example). Problem is here that those who want to overthrow Thaksin aren't really interested in really changing much because they have subverted the system to benefit themselves.

So the only real way to get completely rid of thaksin and his bunch is to have this council. I for one don't trust them to be able to expunge thaksin from the System and then return to prior to Thaksin style politics

They can't turn the clock back that far.

[paz]

It is pretty obvious that the PM hope to invite 70 people, most of whom would support her, to a meeting, so they could have a democratic show of hands and say the majority agrees with her. Very transparent trick that no one fell for.

So, in you opinion, a democratic, visible initiative od dialogue is a trick. Not a proper one because too transparent and it failed. What one can think is that what you whish is the succeeding of proper, covert and powerful ones like one morning TV broadcasting interruption by an Army speaker announing you know what.

[NanLaew]

This stupid, stupid meeting has been set up by the administration in an attempt to deflect from the authority of the EC, by " inviting " them to " join " a forum that is to debate the very things that the EC was empowered to do, and which the EC has long since given their official recommendation. So no one is buying into this, with the notable exception of the red shirt movement. So there is Yingluck looking officious sitting next to Thaksin's cousin, Surapong - together " playing house ". Problem is, the adults stayed away. And this takes us no further towards a solution than anything the administration has come up with. Yingluck's decision to quietly step down two days ago was the most sensible decision she has ever made. Unfortunately, the opinion of her brother prevails.

Actually it was the EC that proposed a meeting to discuss delaying the elections.

It was the EC that said that constitutionally they are prevented from calling the meeting.

It was the EC that pointed out that it was only the constitutionally elected government, including any constitutionally empowered caretaker elected government (such as PTP) that can call such a meeting.

It is the Democrats and their noisome allies that very publicly decline to participate in this constitutionally empowered forum.

This indicates to me that they do not have (never had?) any intention of trying to resolve the issues.

Meanwhile, Suthep suggests much more practical solutions such as kidnapping certain PTP party members and does not openly separate his band of happy clappers (remember them?) from the more radical elements who are openly planning on seizing AeroThai and the SET.

The adults were indeed 'in da house' but it was the kids that chose to stay outside and play silly buggers.

PS. Also not that it was the politically savvy Thaksin that recommended that Yingluck NOT step down despite her altruistic offer to do so. Only the politically savvy Thaksin saw that her stepping down would open her constitutionally empowered and legal caretaker government to being charged with abrogating their obligations to the Thai constitution and the people.

This indicates that Thaksin has actually read the Thai constitution whereas the opposition collectively wipe their <deleted> with it.

Edited January 15, 2014 by NanLaew

[rickirs]

This stupid, stupid meeting has been set up by the administration in an attempt to deflect from the authority of the EC, by " inviting " them to " join " a forum that is to debate the very things that the EC was empowered to do, and which the EC has long since given their official recommendation. So no one is buying into this, with the notable exception of the red shirt movement. So there is Yingluck looking officious sitting next to Thaksin's cousin, Surapong - together " playing house ". Problem is, the adults stayed away. And this takes us no further towards a solution than anything the administration has come up with. Yingluck's decision to quietly step down two days ago was the most sensible decision she has ever made. Unfortunately, the opinion of her brother prevails.

The only thing I've seen the EC admit to that is within its authority is to monitor elections, maing sure registration and election polls are duly designated and operate within the prescribed dates and times. Anything outside of that scope the EC only "advises", "recommends," suggests". etc. INone of these actions has the force of law as in "order", and EC repeatedly points that out lest they knowlingly exceed their authority. There is nothing to debate on the matter.