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A THAI RATH writer last week listed a number of reasons why the People Power party will not be able to avoid dissolution by amending the constitution
KAMOL HENGKIETISAK
People Power party (PPP) spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang prepares for a press conference earlier this month in which he took questions on various legal proceedings involving PPP members. |
The greatest worry of the Samak government is that the People Power party (PPP) is facing the threat of dissolution, in which all its executives would be barred from politics for five years.
But that's not all - the whole cabinet is facing impeachment for endorsing the joint communique signed by former foreign affairs minister Noppadon Pattama over the Preah Vihear issue, noted a Thai Rath writer. Mr Samak has blamed the PPP's and the government's troubles on the 2007 constitution, and says the way out of the problems is to amend the constitution.
The writer begged to differ, as he believed the problems stemmed from the government itself. If the government had not transgressed the constitution, it would not have had to stir up the amendment question once again, over which it would surely face fierce opposition. The fact that the government has decided to move full speed ahead to amend the constitution means that the Samak regime is now prepared to make or break itself on this issue.
The Thai Rath writer conjectured that Mr Samak would not succeed in amending the constitution for five reasons:
1. The goal in amending the constitution is not clearly defined.
2. The PPP alone has no real decision-making power.
3. The six coalition parties are still divided on the issue.
4. The government lacks the charisma to lobby for the necessary Senate votes.
5. The government has no legal expert in the field of constitutional amendment.
For all these reasons, the government's move to amend the constitution cannot garner a majority in the House and the Senate.
Immediately after Mr Samak announced that the government would push for amendments, the Democrat party declared that it would oppose the move, saying it was to benefit the party, not the people. The chief clause the PPP wants amended is the one which allows for dissolution of political parties if party executives have knowledge of wrongdoing such as vote-buying.
By "coincidence", the PPP has recently submitted a complaint to the Election Commission that a Democrat party executive from Ubon Ratchathani province was guilty of vote-buying in the last general election. Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban has insisted that the Democrat party would play by the rules of the constitution. Therefore, if the Democrat executive is red-carded by the EC and the offence is affirmed by the Supreme Court, the party would not move to amend the constitution, but let the judicial process run its course even if it means party dissolution.
The Thai Rath writer agreed that in theory the Democrat party could be dissolved if the party executive is found guilty by the Supreme Court, and all party executives could be barred from politics for five years, including party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. In practice, however, this is very unlikely. This is because four government coalition parties are now facing dissolution. If the Democrat party joins them, who will form the government, asked the writer.
He believed that at most the Democrat executive would face a yellow card, not a red card. If the Democrat party were to be dissolved, it should have been dissolved together with Thai Rak Thai last year when it faced even greater accusations, concluded Thai Rath.
PPP still has solid base
The Supreme Court Election Division's ruling affirming the red card for Yongyuth Tiyapairat and yellow card for La-ong Tiyapairat seems to have affected the PPP greatly, as Mr Yongyuth was the PPP's first deputy leader, noted a Matichon writer
Now the PPP is in some ways no better off than the Chart Thai and Machimathipathai parties, as all three may be dissolved since their executives have been found guilty of violating the election law.
However, the PPP is still quite solid in terms of the number of its MPs, said Matichon. After Mr Yongyuth was stripped of his listed MP status, PPP member Thavorn Trirattanarong was elevated to the position of listed MP. Meanwhile Ms La-ong, who was yellow-carded, can stand again in the upcoming by-election, and with the solid electoral base of the PPP in Chiang Rai, she is expected to regain her seat.
Even if the PPP is eventually dissolved, the chances are good that a new reincarnated party will rise from the ashes and win the general election, as was the case when the PPP won the general election of December 2007 after dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party.
At a deeper level, the process of handing out red or yellow cards will not affect the core support for the party, whether it is called TRT, PPP or another name in the future.
Even if PPP candidates are red-carded and the party is prohibited from standing in the by-election, another coalition party candidate would win the by-election, not the Democrat candidate, in an area which has strong support for the PPP. For this reason, said Matichon, the number of PPP and allied MPs would remain constant.
This means the failure of the Council for National Security (CNS) in its efforts to prevent the reincarnated Thai Rak Thai party from assuming power again. Five months after the election, red cards, yellow cards and even the threat of party dissolution cannot shake the PPP's solid foundation. In contrast to the Thai Rath writer mentioned above, the Matichon writer concluded the coalition government is solid enough to again make a move to amend the 2007 constitution.
Samak challenges NCCC authority
During his Sunday weekly radio address, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said obliquely that the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) was an illegitimate organisation as its commissioners did not have a royal audience for their swearing in before assuming their duties, noted a Thai Rath editorial.
On this issue, NCCC commissioner and spokesman Klanarong Chanthik remarked that all commissioners were appointed legally by the CNS announcement and a royal swearing-in ceremony was not a requirement. The editorialist agreed with Mr Klanarong.
The Constitution Court recently ruled that after the CNS seized power it was empowered to issue laws and make appointments, including those at the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) and the NCCC.
According to the present constitution, all administrators of independent organisations must be royally appointed, but there is no need for a swearing-in ceremony. Since NCCC is an independent organisation, it falls under this provision. Even the 1997 constitution, which is favoured by the PPP over the present version, did not require that the NCCC have a royal audience before assuming its duties.
The 2007 constitution also uses the same language in regard to the NCCC and the impeachment of politicians - when a minister is impeached in the Senate and the issue is referred to the NCCC for investigation, the accused minister must stop performing his duty if the NCCC finds the charges have substance.
This does not mean that the accused minister must stop performing his duty immediately when the issue reaches the NCCC offices, as alleged by Mr Samak. And when the minister is ordered to stop work, it is not an arbitrary act of the NCCC, it is in accordance with the constitution.
Mr Samak tried to convince his audience that the government was duly elected by the people and so had legitimacy, while the NCCC was illegitimate because it was not elected. This was reminiscent of when former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra asked why a few Constitution Court judges had the power to dismiss a prime minister (himself) who was elected by more than 20 million voters.
The editorial responded that no matter how big a landslide by which a party wins a general election, the party and its leaders are not above the law.
It is true that the present NCCC was appointed during the coup and all procedures may not conform to the present constitution. Yet the Constitution Court has already ruled that all the CNS announcements were legitimate, as vouched for in the 2007 Constitution. If Mr Samak and the PPP deem that every product from the CNS was illegitimate, the 2007 Constitution should be deemed illegitimate, as should all MPs, senators and cabinet ministers, since they too are products of the 2007 constitution.
Even if the present constitution has some weak points, it is still in force. The government cannot blame the constitution for its transgressions any more than an ordinary person can blame the law of the land when he or she commits a crime, concluded Thai Rath.
Miscellany
State enterprise labour unions are demanding that the government explain how it plans to compensate the state enterprises for providing the public with free water and electricity under the government's latest economic aid package.
The Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand union will meet other state enterprise unions on July 24 to look at the ramifications of the package announced on Tuesday.
The package includes free electricity for households using less than 80 units (kWh) per month and a subsidy for those using 81-150 units. Tap water will also be free for homes using less than 50 cu m per month. The aid package, which is in effect for six months, also includes excise tax cuts on oil, free travel on some Bangkok buses and free rides on third-class trains. It will cost taxpayers around 47 billion baht.
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