PM Vote This Week

[JayT]

Thai leader agrees to step down if no-confidence vote succeeds

 

The Associated Press, ReutersPublished: June 22, 2008

 

 

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of Thailand said Sunday that he would resign if a no-confidence vote went against him in Parliament, and he lashed out at protesters surrounding his office in an effort to force his removal.

 

The demonstrators, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, continued to occupy the area around Government House, the seat of the Thai government, after breaking through a police cordon Friday.

 

Parliamentary debate starts Monday.

 

Samak said in a nationwide address that he would allow senators and the opposition Democrat Party, which put forth the no-confidence motion, to question him over the first three days of this week.

 

Samak's People Power Party, whose members include many allies of the toppled prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, heads a six-party government coalition that controls about two-thirds of the 480 seats in the lower house of Parliament. With that huge majority, Samak's six-party coalition is in little danger from the censure motion, but the agreement to hear the complaint is a major shift from his previous stance that any censure motion should not precede the annual budget debate.

 

Samak's partners would have to desert him for any no-confidence motion in the lower house to succeed. The Senate does not take part in the voting.

 

While the law requires the resignation of the prime minister who loses such a motion, Samak appeared to stress that, unlike other Thai leaders in the past, he would not use extraconstitutional means to cling to power if the vote goes against him.

 

The demonstrators, who began street protests more than three weeks ago, contend that Samak and his party are mere proxies of Thaksin, who was removed in a 2006 military coup.

 

Over the weekend, thousands of mainly middle-class Bangkok residents set up camp outside Government House after the police let columns of marchers through barricades on Friday rather than use force to repel them. The atmosphere was jovial, with the crowd clapping and cheering speakers on a hastily erected stage as the police looked on.

 

The alliance protests because "their hatred of former Prime Minister Thaksin still prevails. Their hatred of Thaksin is linked to me, and they instigate to overthrow me," Samak said.

 

"I will not bow to your pressure. I will pull out only if I am defeated by a vote in Parliament," he said.

 

But an alliance spokesman, Suriyasai Katasila, said Saturday that even Samak's resignation would not satisfy their demands.

 

"The People's Alliance for Democracy believes that the government's decision to allow a no-confidence motion in Parliament is a political game to lessen tension. But the decision has come too late," Suriyasai said.

 

He said that even if Samak resigned the protesters would still want to root out his People Power Party, which they consider a reincarnation of Thaksin's disbanded earlier party.

 

The alliance led mass demonstrations before the 2006 coup demanding Thaksin step down over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. They now accuse Samak's government of interfering with corruption charges against the former prime minister and trying to change the Constitution for its own self-interest.

 

Rumors have swept Bangkok since the protests began that the military, which plays a powerful and influential role in the country, would stage another coup, although the top brass has repeatedly denied that it has any plans to do so.

 

The People Power Party won general elections in December. The cabinet is packed with Thaksin's allies, and critics said that rehabilitating the former leader is among the government's top priorities.

 

Samak said he would get back to work Monday at Government House despite the ring of protesters around it.

 

"I am telling you that the government is still stable. The situation in the country is still normal," he said.

 

"I will continue to allow you to demonstrate your power as long as the public still tolerates you," Samak said, referring to the demonstrators. "But once the public tells me that they do not tolerate you, I will exercise my right to take tough measures."

 

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[JayT]

Thai leader under fire ahead of no-confidence vote

 

By Thomas Fuller Published: June 25, 2008

 

BANGKOK: "There are three things that can make Thai people emotional," said Gothom Arya, a veteran human rights campaigner here. "The royal family, nationalism and religion."

 

In its campaign to unseat the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, the political opposition in Thailand is tapping two out of three, Gothom said.

 

Opponents of Samak's five-month-old government are trying to remove him using a territorial dispute over an ancient Hindu temple on the Cambodian border, adding to an already poisonous political stalemate gripping the country. The opposition is also repeating assertions that Samak's government and its allies do not have sufficient respect for the country's monarchy.

 

Samak appeared ready to prevail over a vote of no-confidence Thursday in Parliament - his coalition controls two-thirds of the seats - but daily street protests and the emotive potency of the allegations against the prime minister have further weakened his government.

 

With protesters blocking access to his office, Samak has been forced to leave through back doors or work from alternate, undisclosed locations.

 

...On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Thailand jailed one of Thaksin's lawyers and two of his legal advisers for what was judged as an attempt to bribe court officials with the equivalent of $60,000 hidden in a grocery bag.

 

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[JayT]

Prime minister of Thailand survives no-confidence vote

 

The Associated Press Friday, June 27, 2008

 

BANGKOK: The Thai prime minister survived a no-confidence vote Friday, fending off opposition accusations of incompetence, mismanagement and yielding national sovereignty.

 

The parliamentary opposition's motion against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was rejected Friday in the 470-member lower house of Parliament by a vote of 280-162, with the rest of the lawmakers abstaining or absent. The lawmakers also rejected no-confidence motions against seven other cabinet members.

 

The results were largely expected because Samak's six-party coalition, led by his People Power Party, controls two-thirds of the seats in the lower house.

 

Despite the victory, Samak and his government continue to face political hurdles including street protests that have hounded his government for the past month.

 

...Protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy have rallied on the streets of Bangkok for a month and have occupied the area around Government House, the seat of Thailand's government, since breaking through a police cordon one week ago.

 

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