Pheu Thai goes after accuser from UTN
The Pheu Thai Party (PTP) on Thursday vowed to pursue legal action against Sonthiya Sawasdee, a member of the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party who it said filed a false petition with the Election Commission (EC) accusing Pheu Thai of cheating voters with its 10,000-baht digital handout campaign promise.
During the campaign season, the party promised to give out 10,000 baht in digital handouts to people over 16 years old to boost the economy, a move that has come under criticism from politicians.
Treechada Srithada, deputy Pheu Thai spokeswoman, on Thursday said the EC had already dismissed all petitions asking it to examine whether the policy was aimed at cheating voters.
These included petitions filed by Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, and Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a former election candidate of the Palang Pracharath Party, she said.
She said the digital handout policy is now being discussed among Pheu Thai’s potential coalition partners.
She, therefore, accused Mr Sonthiya of deliberately using his petition to discredit Pheu Thai’s handout policy because he did not petition the EC over the campaign promises of other political parties.
The Palang Pracharath Party, which shares a history with the UTN, for instance, failed to raise the daily minimum wage to between 400 and 425 baht as promised in 2019, she said.
This clearly showed Mr Sonthiya deliberately defamed Pheu Thai to mislead the public, a violation under Section 101 of the 2017 organic law on political parties, she said.
“Pheu Thai isn’t going to put up with such an attempt to treat it badly,” she said. “No more apologies. He deserves consequences for what he has done.”
Sonthiya: PTP ‘cheated voters’
Poll results ‘in mid-July’
Recount won’t delay MP endorsement: EC
A vote recount won’t affect the deadline for the Election Commission to endorse the election results in mid-July, according to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam on Thursday.
He made the assurance after the EC ordered a recount of votes received by MPs-elect at 47 polling stations across 16 provinces on Sunday when it found that the total number of ballots cast for the candidates did not match the number of people who turned out to vote.
The recount won’t affect the overall election time frame, as the EC has until July 13 to endorse the result of the polls, he said,
Under the current election rules, the EC has 60 days from the date of the election to make the election results official by certifying at least 95% of all MPs-elect.
Similarly, EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said the results are likely to be endorsed well ahead of the mid-July deadline.
The public has been pressing the EC to endorse the results of the election as soon as possible, as the prolonged political uncertainty is hurting investors’ confidence in the country and, thus, the economy.
The coalition partners of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which is expected to lead the formation of the next government as it won the most votes in the May 14 election, are also pushing the EC to endorse the results quickly so they can get on with their political agendas.
According to a source at the EC, votes cast for list-MP candidates at 31 polling stations would be recounted, while votes for candidates in the constituency contest at 16 polling stations would be recounted.
The source said the recounts would be held on Sunday at 47 polling stations in 16 provinces, namely Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chumphon, Trang, Nakhon Nayok, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phrae, Lop Buri, Samut Sakhon, Saraburi, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi, Chachoengsao, Phangnga, Phetchaburi, and Nong Khai.
Karoonpon Tieansuwan, an MFP deputy spokesman, said that the party did not think the recounts would have any bearing on the votes the party had received.
“We are confident Move Forward has received the voters’ mandate [to form a government],” he said, adding that the EC must provide a justification if any poll reruns were to be held.
A group of demonstrators on Thursday demanded the EC dismiss all complaints against MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat and endorse official election results as soon as possible to pave the way for the formation of a new government.
About 50 members of the June 24 Democracy group showed up at the EC’s headquarters at the Government Complex to voice their demands.
Their leader, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, said the EC should not accept any of the complaints filed in connection with Mr Pita’s shareholding in iTV Plc, saying there would be mass demonstrations otherwise, he said.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running as an MP in a general election.
“As the EC has not verified 95% of the MP vote results, the opening of the House is delayed, and parliament cannot convene to elect a prime minister,” Mr Somyot said.
“This allows Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the caretaker prime minister and defence minister, to remain in power.”
Attempts to block Mr Pita and the party that received overwhelming voter support from forming a government has resulted in an “ongoing political crisis”, Mr Somyot said.
Rice dept in MFP’s crosshairs
The Move Forward Party (MFP) has launched its own investigation into claims of irregular spending for an event organised by the Department of Rice, saying state officials should be warned that the incoming government will not tolerate corruption in office.
At a press conference on Thursday, Karoonpon Tieansuwan, MFP deputy spokesman, said the party had received a complaint from officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives about the lack of budgeting transparency for an event dubbed “Rice Day and National Farmers”, which was held from June 5-7 at the department’s headquarters.
Mr Karoonpon said the budget request becomes even more suspicious when the event’s entire timeline is considered.
On Feb 20, the department earmarked 15 million baht to stage the event, which is aimed at sharing knowledge and best practices among rice farmers nationwide, at an event hall in Pathum Thani. A few weeks after, the department decided to hold the event at its headquarters, bringing down the budget needed to 7.5 million baht.
However, on May 9, it was decided that the event would be a three-day event instead of two. On the same day, the department revised its budget request to 12.5 million baht — a five-million-baht jump for organising an extra day of activities — a decision that was questioned by the complainants.
Later, the party discovered only one company out of the four invited took part in the bidding for the event. Mr Karoonpon said this company had won many contracts from the Department of Rice. Furthermore, a team of MFP members who visited the event said the number of visitors was far less than the 30,000 the department had claimed would attend the event in the bidding terms of references (TOR) and that many of the event’s participants had been paid to show up at the event.
The party had previously estimated that state-owned agencies had spent over a billion baht to organise events in a year.
“In a MFP-led government, it will not happen. Any improper budget must be cancelled, as they should be used to fund the country’s development and improve the quality of life,” he said.
Meanwhile, department chief, Nattakit Kongthip, said everything followed ministerial regulations and the cabinet resolution.
Justice official dead with bullet wound
The Court of Justice’s deputy chief of the narcotics division was found dead in his house on Wednesday with a bullet wound to his head and a handgun found near his body.
The body of Pramote Thampanichawat, 60, was found by his secretary at his residence in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok.
Pol Col Chisanupong Suriyanon, superintendent of Phahon Yothin Police Station, said a 9mm handgun was found next to Pramote’s right hand. He had a bullet entrance wound to his right temple.
Pol Col Chisanupong said there was no evidence of an assault or a fight at the scene.
He said police are making enquiries over the gun — checking who its registered owner is.
More evidence must be collected before officers can confirm he died by his own hand.
Family members told police that Pramote had been stressed by work and suffered bouts of fainting, but they were reportedly not aware of any other health conditions.
Asean to hold first joint drills
JAKARTA: The Southeast Asian bloc will hold its first-ever joint military exercise in the South China Sea, its chair Indonesia said on Thursday, the latest multilateral security drills at a time of rising tension and uncertainty in the region.
The decision was taken at a meeting of military commanders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Indonesia, which will host the exercise in the North Natuna Sea, the southernmost waters of the South China Sea.
Indonesia’s military chief, Admiral Yudo Margono, told state-run news agency Antara the exercise would be in September and would not include any combat operations training. The purpose, Adm Margono said, was strengthening “Asean centrality”.
Asean’s unity has for years been tested by China-US rivalry in the South China Sea. Reuters
‘Stateless’ kids to stay in school
The Ministry of Education on Thursday guaranteed that all ethnic minority children at Thairath Wittaya 6 School in Ang Thong province are eligible to attend school despite their stateless status.
The assurance followed a ministry probe into claims that the children were relocated from a border town near Myanmar in the north to the Thairath Wittaya 6 School in Pa Mok district against their will.
Locals had filed complaints with the authorities about a large group of ethnic minority children being enrolled in the Thairath Wittaya 6 School, which only has two teachers, one director and one administrator, said provincial governor Rangsan Tancharoen.
However, Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong said on Thursday that she had received reports from the Office of the Basic Education Commission that all 124 students had been relocated from the North to Ang Thong to enrol in Thairath Wittaya 6 School.
According to the Ang Thong Primary Educational Service Area Office, a screening found that seven of the children held Thai citizenship, while the rest did not have proof of civil registration, she said.
The office has offered to help the children, she said. They will now reside in a school building and the Wat Sa Kaeo Orphan Aid Centre and continue their lessons until the investigation is complete, she said. “The Education Ministry guarantees that all children in Thailand are eligible to enrol in schools despite their race or nationality, a universal practice [under] to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
To verify whether the children had entered Thailand legally, related agencies were assigned to investigate, she said. Reports showed that the smuggling of ethnic children involved people in various sectors, she said.
Authorities are probing possible human trafficking as all of the children were taken from Akha village on Doi Mae Salong in Chiang Rai province, a hill separating Thailand and Myanmar.
Pol Col Sakchai Kraiweeradechachai, superintendent at Pa Mok station in Ang Thong, told the press that the children could not speak Thai.
Calls for reforms to retain Thai nurses
Around 10,000 new nurses graduate annually, yet up to 7,000 quit Thai state-run hospitals each year due to excessive workloads and inadequate pay for overtime, according to the nurses’ union and Nurses Connect.
The significant rate of nurse resignations serves as a basis for urging the new government to explore more effective strategies to retain a maximum number of nurses within the country’s state-run healthcare system.
Suwimol Namkanisorn, a representative of the nurse’s union and Nurses Connect, said the rate of new nurses resigning within their first year of work is now as high as 48.9%.
“There is no need to increase the number of newly trained nurses, but having effective new measures to retain nurses in the state-run healthcare system is crucial,” she said.
On average, these nurses work 80 hours per week, even though they are supposed to work at most 60 hours a week — as stated in a regulation by the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council, she said.
The total number of working hours of a nurse used to be around 48 per week, but as more and more nurses resigned, the workload became more excessive, she said.
“It would help if the new public health minister can gradually lower the average number of working hours of nurses at hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health’s jurisdiction from 80 to around 60 per week,” she said.
As for overtime work payment, she said while nurses working at hospitals under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) now receive 1,200 baht per eight-hour shift, those working for hospitals under the ministry are paid only between 650 and 800 baht per shift, she said.
Ms Suwimol added that overtime pay should be at the same (higher) rate across the board.
Sunway, UOB Malaysia partner to advance net zero goal by 2050
Share research on developments and most recent sustainability practices
Builds on two-decade partnership, embark on path to low carbon economy
Sunway Group and UOB Malaysia have inked a partnership which will see the two companies working together towards their shared mission to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The MoU was signed…Continue Reading
The G7 anti-China façade shows cracks in Europe
BUDAPEST – The Group of Seven’s apparent united front against China at last month’s Tokyo summit has given way to a new round of diplomacy with Beijing.
Chinese analysts draw a bright line between, on the one hand, the United States and Japan, which are committed to containing China, and, on the other hand, the leading European countries, which are open to economic incentives.
Chinese’s number two official Li Qiang will visit Berlin and Paris later this month, attending a June 22 conference on support for poor countries (grandly titled “A new world financial pact”). The conference is the project of French Prime Minister Macron; its significance lies in the fact China as of March exported more to the Global South than to the whole of the developed world.
In the short term, countries like France with longstanding interests in the Global South must find a modus vivendi with China. In the medium term, China’s enormous economic commitment to Africa – an estimated $155 billion of investment during the last twenty years – represents Europe’s best hope of forestalling an uncontrollable wave of immigration from Africa.
En route to Paris, Premier Li will meet German Chancellor Gerhard Scholz in Berlin. The head of Scholz’s Social-Democratic Party, Lars Klingbeil, met Li Qiang in Beijing this week. Li declared that “Beijing stands ready to propel its strategic partnership with Berlin to new heights,” adding, “China attaches great importance to its relations and cooperation with Germany, and it is important for the two major influential countries to stay true to their original aspiration of cooperation, and strengthen dialogue and coordination to bring more stability and certainty into the world.”
Klingbeil also met with Wang Huning, perhaps China’s most visible political strategist, and the author of the tract “America Against America,” a critique of American cultural and economic decline.
One of the most important currents in the SPD, the Seeheimer Circle, last month issued a white paper calling for a “multidimensional policy” towards China, by way of riposte to Washington’s efforts to isolate China. “An abrupt end to trade relations with China would be an economic disaster,” the Seeheimer paper warns. “We are responsible for the security of domestic employment. In that regard, a coherent China strategy should not be an anti-China strategy that pursues the objection of decoupling Germany from China.”
Party-to-party diplomacy may be more important for German-Chinese relations than government-to-government discussions. During the past year, the most visibly pro-American German party, the Greens, have fallen from 22% to just 14% in the polls, while the hard-right, anti-NATO Alternative für Deutschland has jumped from 14% to 19%. The German coalition has effectively broken down, and the parties are pursuing their policy goals separately.
Hungary provides an important directional indicator for European policy. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appears to have moved far afield from the European mainstream. He declared May 23 that Russia could not be beaten military in Ukraine, and his foreign minister announced that Budapest would veto additional EU aide to Kyiv. Hungary’s relations with China are strong, and developing rapidly.
Orbán’s government has sought more rather than less Chinese high-tech investment, including the East-West intermodal freight hub, the first rail transport facility using 5G broadband and artificial intelligence for container transshipments, an important project for China’s Huawei. That contrasts with the rumbling (reported on June 7 in the Financial Times) of an EU-wide ban on Huawei infrastructure.
Orbán is less isolated than he appears. It is unlikely that he would take outlier positions unless he had the tacit support of other European political forces. The Hungarian leader is likely to set the pace for the next round of EU-China discussions.
China sees opportunity in Europe. Countries in the G7 “have different degrees of intensity in dealing with China, and China can adopt a strategy of dividing them,” wrote the influential commentator Yang Feng in a May 23 online analysis that likely reflects the thinking of the Chinese government.
“The difference in the level” of opposition to China, Yang wrote, “means that China has different options for responding to the positions of the seven countries. What Japan has adopted is industrial substitution, which is direct competition [with China]. But in the case of France, Germany and Italy, China can offer a policy of attraction, opening up its domestic economy and trade, as well as opening up investment. Where the UK is concerned, China will cooperate if wants to cooperate and pull back if it does not want to cooperate. It is up to the UK to choose.”
The Chinese commentator noted, “Regardless of how loudly the Group of Seven is shouting, the only countries that China really has to deal with are the United States and Japan.” He added: “After Biden took office, in terms of economic and trade policies, only Japan has cooperated with the US policy and imposed blockades and sanctions on China. Most of the other countries have stayed at the level of talk.”
Yang Feng added that China will “continue to work toward de-dollarization in the non-American world. Even US allies such as the European Union countries are also interested in getting rid of their dependence on the US dollar.”
Why Imran Khan has disappeared from Pakistan’s media
ReutersIt was a surreal moment. On Tuesday night during his live TV show, Pakistani anchor Kashif Abbasi was talking about a legal petition filed by a lawyer against former prime minister Imran Khan.
Mr Abbasi says his name, then stops himself: “He filed an application under article six against Imran Khan… I apologise, against the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf.”
We tried to speak to Mr Abbasi, but he did not get back to us.
Over the last week, you will have struggled to hear Imran Khan’s name or see his picture on Pakistan’s media.
His arrest a month ago on corruption charges is the backdrop to this crackdown. When Mr Khan was taken from a court complex in Islamabad on 9 May, protests were sparked around the country. Some protested peacefully, but there was also violence.
Military buildings including the home of the most senior military commander in Lahore were attacked. The police arrested thousands of Khan supporters and the military have said they intend to try the alleged perpetrators of the attacks in military courts, something human rights groups including Amnesty International have said is against international law.
On 31 May, Pakistan’s media regulator Pemra sent out a directive to Pakistan’s news channels. After mentioning the events of 9 May, the directive reminds media channels that they must refrain from providing airtime to individuals who propagate hate speech.
There is no mention of Imran Khan’s name in the directive, but we have spoken to several individuals at different TV stations who told us that the message had been conveyed in clear terms to their channels.
Imran Khan’s name should not be mentioned, his picture not shown, his voice not heard, even a mention on the channels’ ticker tapes was not allowed, they told us. If there was any need to mention him, Mr Khan should only be referred to by his title, the chairman of his party, the PTI.
Two sources told the BBC that they had spoken directly to the owners of the TV channels they work for. They say the owners had been called into a meeting with senior officials from the military and intelligence services who told the channels in clear terms what was expected.
“They were told you will not run any news that bears his name and if you do you will be responsible,” says one source who works in Pakistan TV. All contributors from the media spoke to us on condition of anonymity.
The BBC has approached the army for a response, but has not yet heard back from them. Pemra’s director general confirmed that they had issued the directive but said that no instruction was given to news channels to stop mentioning Imran Khan.
It’s not the first time that a politician has been subject to a ban; during Imran Khan’s time in power, his political opponent Nawaz Sharif’s speeches were banned.
“Censorship has always been there in some way or another in Pakistan,” one journalist told me. “I used to get calls from the ISPR [the military’s press wing] saying there would be consequences about talking critically about Imran Khan.
“Back then we struggled to find opposition leaders to speak to because they were in jail. Now we struggle to have someone on from the PTI. The major difference between Khan’s tenure and now is that now they have this justification of the 9 May violence.”
Those in the media spoke to us about how this policy could affect their channels.
“The top channels here said: ‘How are you going to manage this?’ The fear is that the channels will lose credibility sooner rather than later if they are not showing any news about the PTI and pushing government press conferences.
“A very large number of people also watch TV because they want to get news about Imran Khan. The day he was arrested, the viewership was incredibly high.”
After being arrested then released, many of the PTI’s senior leadership announced they were leaving the party. The limits on the media are just the latest attempt to reduce Imran Khan’s influence before an election due later this year.
There are some who disagree with the way that this has been portrayed.
“It’s been twisted for political gains, saying that his name is banned,” says Faisal Vawda, former PTI leader and previously a close Khan aide. He left the party in late 2022. “It [the Pemra directive] doesn’t say officially anywhere in terms of law that this is about him.
“Anyone involved in terrorism, any kind of violence will not be allowed on media, that’s the basic law of the country.
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“Technically he [Khan] fits into that scenario because he was the one who was commanding it. All the witnesses say that they got the instructions from him.”
That’s something that Mr Khan disputes, saying the violence was encouraged by the intelligence services, although he has not provided proof of this.
Those involved in the media that we spoke to have found it frustrating.
“It is farcical,” says one regular contributor to TV news channels. He takes part in discussions about 9 May, but is not allowed to name Imran Khan.
“When you arrive, they ask you not to talk about the establishment’s interference in politics as they worry this will get them into trouble. Even if you mention his name, because of the time delay they will just beep you out. It’s just an environment of fear, it’s like we are living under martial law.”
The establishment is the short-hand term for Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence agencies that many analysts believe are behind the recent crackdown.
Despite there being precedent for limits on Pakistan’s media – it is currently ranked 150 out of 180 on press freedom by the Reporters without Borders index – there are concerns that recent weeks have made a lasting impact on free speech.
“I think [that since 9 May] we’ve lost the space that we had since Musharraf era. We lost that freedom of speech,” one journalist told me. “In the past year, the way military was criticised on TV channels and papers – I’ve never seen that.
“Now I think it will take us years, if not a decade, to recapture that space.”
“This is an unprecedented level,” says another. “It’s the self-censorship that is actually the worst. It makes me second-guess myself, my team second-guess themselves. They come to me scared they will get something wrong, some header, inviting a particular guest because they might mention Imran Khan or be sympathetic towards what is happening to the party.
“You never know who can be picked up. We are really under pressure.”
