Parliament starts PM vote
A joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate started voting on the prime ministerial candidacy of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat at about 4pm on Thursday.
The voting process followed a debate on the qualifications of Mr Pita, the sole candidate.
Parliamentarians mainly discussed controversies concerning the intention of the MFP to change Section 112, or the lese majeste law, and Mr Pita’s shareholding in iTV plc. The constitution bans any media organisation shareholder from running in a general election.
Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha adjourned the debate at 3.52pm. He praised parliamentarians for their cooperation in the session, which let the debate conclude one hour earlier than planned.
The session saw 676 out of 749 parliamentarians (one senator resigned on Wednesday) confirming their attendance for the vote, and they included 216 senators.
Mr Pita would require a majority vote of 375 out of 749 to secure the prime minister’s position.
Supporters of the Move Forward Party gather near the parliament on Thursday. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)
Pita loses first PM vote
Move Forward leader gets support of only 13 senators, another round expected next Wednesday
Pita Limjaroenrat failed on Thursday in his initial bid to become the country’s next prime minister, after he was unable to secure the required endorsement of more than half of the members of parliament.
The final tally was 324 votes in favour, 182 against and 199 abstentions, among the 705 members participating. The Move Forward Party (MFP) leader needed 375 votes — a simple majority of the 749 combined House and Senate seats — to win the office.
Mr Pita received 311 votes in favour from MPs and 148 against, with 39 abstentions. He received just 13 votes in favour from senators, 34 against and 159 abstentions.
Earlier Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said second and third rounds of voting would take place on July 19 and 20. It is not yet clear whether the name of the Move Forward leader will be put forward again on one or both occasions.
“We accept the result, but we are not retreating,” Mr Pita told reporters shortly after the results were announced. “The result was not what we expected. We will work hard to gather support for the next vote. I will strategise again to make sure next time we get the votes needed.
“We will not change our policies, we must keep our promise to the people,” he added.
The voting at the joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate followed six hours of debate on the qualifications of Mr Pita, the sole candidate.
Parliamentarians mainly discussed controversies concerning the intention of the MFP to change Section 112, or the lese-majeste law, and Mr Pita’s shareholding in iTV Plc. The constitution bans any media organisation shareholder from running in a general election.
Mr Wan adjourned the debate at 3.52pm. He praised parliamentarians for their cooperation in the session, which allowed the debate to conclude one hour earlier than planned.
The session saw 705 out of 749 parliamentarians (one senator resigned on Wednesday) confirming their attendance for the vote. The number included 216 senators.
Supporters of the Move Forward Party gather near parliament in Bangkok’s Dusit district on Thursday. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)
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In issuing his final warning to all parties ahead of the upcoming state elections to not exploit issues touching on the 3R, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday said that the situation is currently monitored by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM). Meanwhile,Continue Reading
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Tuas fire aftermath: Businesses affected by seawater quality; chemical smell still lingers in area
Mr Wong, co-owner of S.E.A Charter Services, said he is worried that the chemicals in the seawater could affect the paint on his boat or cause damage to its engine, shortening its lifespan.
Customers who hire him for fishing expeditions have also expressed their concerns.
“A lot of regular customers messaged me and asked about the water condition – if it is still safe to fish, and if the fish is still edible or not,” he said.
Mr Wong now brings his customers further away from the marina to fish in the open sea.
The longer journey has taken a toll on his fuel consumption.
Meanwhile, wakeboarding operator Astern Wave has seen bookings drop by as much as 50 per cent after the fire.
Some clients have cancelled their bookings, while others have requested to travel to other sites.
Owner Eric Marteles said the firm has been advised not to conduct any water activities in the immediate vicinity for the time being. Instead, they will drive further to cleaner areas.
“We will drive up north but it is a drive to get there. Some people don’t want to spend part of their booking travelling to the area, which is understandable, especially if it’s a short booking,” he said.
Mr Marteles said he hope authorities will provide businesses with regular updates on the seawater’s quality.
REFRAIN FROM WATER SPORTS, SAYS NEA
The National Environment Agency (NEA) has advised against water sports and fishing in the area around Raffles Marina for now.
This comes after complaints surfaced on social media of dark greasy waters and dead fishes floating in the sea.
Water samples taken daily from the Tuas West Canal continue to show elevated oil and grease levels a week after the blaze.
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S112 dominates PM debate
Pita defends party’s policies ahead of parliamentary vote on his nomination
Parliamentarians challenged sole prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat over his party’s plan to amend the law that protects the royal institution and questioned his past shareholding in iTV, before a vote on his nomination on Thursday.
House representatives and senators spent six hours expressing their opinions on whether they should choose the leader of the Move Forward Party as the country’s 30th prime minister.
Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha closed the debate and proceeded with the vote starting at 3.52pm, with 676 parliamentarians in attendance. However, Mr Pita still needs 375 votes — a simple majority of 749 combined House and Senate seats — to win the office.
Outside the parliament complex, crowds were beginning to gather, with orange-clad supporters of Move Forward nervously monitoring the vote to gauge whether Mr Pita could achieve a majority.
Police have declared an area within a 50-metre radius from the parliament a no-protest zone. Shipping containers draped with canvas banners portraying pleasant touristic scenes were lined up along Thahan Road. Two anti-riot armoured vehicles were seen nearby.
Inside the chamber, most speakers opposed to Mr Pita’s nomination trained their attention on Move Forward’s plan to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law.
Chada Thaiset, an opposition Bhumjaithai MP for Uthai Thani, said that any change to Section 112 would cause unrest.
“If you let people insult the monarchy without any laws to keep them in check, our country will burn,” he said. “How about I propose a law allowing people to shoot those insulting the monarchy?”
The law protects the royal institution from offences, insults and threats. But Move Forward contends that has been used mostly by those in power to silence their critics.
Mr Chada said that apart from Move Forward, the seven other coalition allies did not support any change to Section 112. However, Mr Pita has always insisted that his party would propose to amend the section by itself. The proposal is not in the MoU that the eight-party coalition signed.
United Thai Nation MP Wittaya Kaewparadai said Move Forward had brought abnormality to Thai politics because no political party had ever proposed any change to the lese-majeste law.
“At present, 10 political parties in the House, seven other parties that are the coalition allies of MFP and most senators do not support any change to Section 112. This is political abnormality. Only one political party proposes what no other parties ever think about,” Mr Wittaya said.
Satra Sripan, a United Thai Nation MP for Songkhla, said amending Section 112 would cause division and create hatred in society.
Senator Khamnoon Sitthisamarn said a previous MFP proposal to amend the lese-majeste law would either reduce jail terms or even lift punishment for offences against the royal institution.
Senator Praphan Khumee told the joint sitting of the House and the Senate that Mr Pita was unqualified to serve because of his past holding of 42,000 shares in the defunct broadcaster iTV Plc.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder in a media organisation from running in a general election.
Mr Praphan warned parliamentarians that if they voted for an unqualified person, they could be considered as performing duties or exercising their authority in an unconstitutional manner.
Mr Pita told parliamentarians that he was qualified for the premiership, adding that he had never been informed officially about any questions related to his MP qualifications.
He was referred to the move by the Election Commission, which has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on his eligibility in light of the iTV shareholding.
Earlier, Mr Pita complained that the EC never informed him of its doubts or invited him to defend himself.
The EC on Thursday stated that the constitution allowed it to find relevant facts and seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court without having to press an accusation against Mr Pita and call for his defence. It would be up to the court to decide whether it wants to hear from the candidate.
Explanations from an accused person are sought when the EC is dealing with alleged violations of electoral and political party laws, the EC said. In cases where MP qualifications are in doubt, the EC says it is empowered to gather facts without calling an MP to lay a charge.
The EC also denied complaints by Mr Pita and his party that its fact-finding process in the case was unusually quick.
Supporters of Move Forward Party prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat sell merchandise outside the Parliament complex in Bangkok before the vote to decide on the country’s next prime minister. (Photo: AFP)
Shipping containers draped with banners showing touristic scenes are placed in front of the Parliament complex to provide security on Thursday. (Photo: AFP)
More supply chain management jobs, skills development initiatives available as Singapore looks to grow sector
The company said it has seen its processes transformed and enhanced by digitalisation and automation over the years.
“Our factory in Tuas is highly automated. The skillset has changed from people doing very manual, very mundane jobs to be able to utilise digital tools and use data to make decisions. This is also the upskilling that we need to continue to do,” said the firm’s chief supply chain officer Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk.
“Ten years ago, people might not want to have a job as a warehouse or logistics executive, because they think of the environment as dirty, or of the work being heavy duty,” she added.
“But with all the automation that have come into modern warehouses, and also the technologies that are applied literally at your fingertips, it’s (different and) a lot safer today.”
TALENT AND UPSKILLING
Government agencies such as SkillsFuture will work with institutes for higher learning to translate these increasingly sought-after skillsets into training programmes, said WSG’s manufacturing division director Anderson Ee.
They will cater to both employers looking to upskill their existing workforce, as well s individuals seeking to equip themselves with relevant knowledge to join the sector or to progress in their current roles.
“There are ongoing efforts to enhance public awareness of SCM, such as collaboration with industry stakeholders,” Mr Ee said.
“(Our partners have also) launched masterclasses equipping individuals with digital and sustainability skillsets to manage the flow of goods and services in the new world. There is a lot more to be done, and we are working on developing and attracting talents in this particular sector.”
SCM professionals command a median salary of approximately S$5,900, higher than the national median salary of S$4,680, the EDB said.
The EDB and SSG has developed a reference guide on trends reshaping SCM jobs, in-demand skills, and information on training. It will be available on the EDB website on Jul 31.
“These insights will guide our training providers in curriculum development and help enterprises enhance their in-house SCM training programmes,” said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.
“They will also help workers get equipped with the necessary skills to upskill and reskill for a rewarding career.”
ASEAN, China agree on guidelines to accelerate South China Sea code of conduct negotiations
JAKARTA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on Thursday (Jul 13) agreed on guidelines to accelerate the negotiation of the code of conduct for the South China Sea.
The guidelines were adopted in a meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and ASEAN’s foreign ministers in Jakarta, where the group has held its annual foreign ministers and related meetings.
Indonesia is the current rotating chair of ASEAN.
“This achievement must continue to build positive momentum to strengthen partnerships that advance a paradigm of inclusivity and openness, respecting the international law including UNCLOS 1982, and encourage the habits to hold dialogues and collaboration,” said Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which China has ratified.
Mdm Marsudi said she hoped that China would be ASEAN’s trusted partner to foster an “open and inclusive regional architecture”.
“Only then can we achieve win-win cooperation for the sake of creation, of peace, stability and shared prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” she added.
Details of the guidelines were, however, not revealed.
About one-third of the world’s maritime shipping passes through the South China Sea every year, carrying over US$3 trillion in trade.
It is a hotly contested region with overlapping claims. China claims much of the South China Sea, but ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are also claimant states.
Current ASEAN chair Indonesia is not a claimant state in the South China Sea, but it has clashed with China over fishing rights around its Natuna Islands near the disputed waters in the past few years.
Gig workers âmost financially stretchedâ with spending exceeding income: DBS study
RISING MORTGAGES LOOK “MANAGEABLE” FOR NOW
Turning to household debt, DBS said mortgage repayments have increased over the past year amid rising interest rates but remain “manageable” for now due to income growth.
The bank’s median customer is now borrowing around 3 per cent more for a home purchase. Median mortgage payments have also increased by about 12 per cent.
So far, the income growth across all customer groups has been “more than sufficient to offset the rises to mortgage rates and with some to spare”, said DBS Group Research’s analyst Fang Boon Foo.
Nevertheless, higher monthly mortgage payments could still impact those earning below S$5,000.
Firstly, these home owners are allocating a bigger portion – more than 50 per cent – of their income growth to service the increase in monthly mortgage repayments, according to the report.
This is higher than the 45 per cent for those earning between S$5,000 to below S$7,500, 40 per cent for those with income of S$7,500 to below S$10,000, and 43 per cent for income earners of S$10,000 and more.
Secondly, more than half of those earning below S$5,000 have mortgage loans under floating rates, meaning that additional stresses could arise when mortgages are refinanced on higher interest rates, the bank said.
Mr Seah sees more upside to come in the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA), which is the benchmark interest rate used for various financial products, including floating home loans.
Amid the successive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, SORA has risen more than 10-fold from 0.3 in May last year to about 3.6 currently, he said.
“Our expectation is that the bias is still marginally on the upside. We do expect the SORA to end the year at about 3.7, with one more Fed hike coming up,” the economist added at the media briefing.
Meanwhile, DBS customers have increased their usage of credit cards, with spending up 12.8 per cent as of May 2023 from a year ago.
Reasons for the rise in usage include the ability to tap on card promotions and rewards, as well as qualify for higher interest rates under DBS’ Multiplier savings account.
Despite the increase, credit card debt looks “manageable” as customers are paying their credit card bills on time to avoid the high interest charges, the bank said.
Looking ahead, DBS expects inflation and interest rates to remain elevated. There could also be an additional challenge of slowing growth momentum, which would in turn weigh down on income growth.
“I think the underlying message to everyone is that we need to live within our means. We need to essentially practice prudent budgeting and also to be more watchful in terms of our spending,” said Mr Seah.