Money handouts, storm problems take priority
PUBLISHED: 26 Sep 2024 at 04: 00
After partnership celebrations poured cold water on the charge, vice prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai on Wednesday dismissed media inquiries about whether the ruling Pheu Thai Party will continue to implement a law act plan involving moral standards for social officeholders.
He claimed that the government was rather concentrating on halting the floods, which hit some provinces, and strengthening the market, which started with a cash donation of 10,000 baht to 14.5 million vulnerable people on Wednesday.
Asked if Pheu Thai would withdraw its mandate article act from parliament due to mounting censure, Mr Phumtham, a vital figure in the ruling party, said the matter was certainly up for discussion.
Mr. Phumtham stated that the party was organizing a meeting with its coalition partners on Tuesday to discuss the Pheu Thai-sponsored amendment bill, which sets forth clear ethical standards for politicians.
However, the ruling party reportedly backed down due to strong resistance from several coalition partners, who deemed the proposal self-serving.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the deputy prime minister and leader of Bhumjaithai, asserted on Wednesday that his party had never suggested reversing its position on the ethical standards issue and that there was no need to change its position.
He was responding to rumors that the leader of a major political party had suggested making a reference to Pheu Thai.
Chapters 1 and 2 should be left alone, according to Bhumjaithai executive Korawee Prissanantakul, who earlier stated that the party would support the charter amendment if it was approved in a public referendum.
Thailand is described in Chapter 1 as a single, unbroken, democratic kingdom with the King as head of state, while Chapter 2 includes provisions relating to royal prerogatives.
Political activist Jatuporn Prompan claimed that the ruling party was under pressure from the coalition and the public to back down on its efforts to amend the charter. He suggested that Pheu Thai’s main motivation for requesting a revision of the charter was to stop the party’s leader, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, from facing legal opposition.
Ms. Paetongtarn herself is the subject of a number of ethics-related grievances, including one involving her ownership of the contentious Alpine Golf Club, which is set against a monastic plot.
In other news, the opposition’s People’s Party ( PP ) stated that it is awaiting Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha’s ( NPP ) to schedule a debate on the party’s proposed amendment to the charter to enact a law restricting the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s ( NACC ) authority to investigate members of parliament for alleged ethical violations.
The NACC receives the cases before deciding whether to send them to the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court.
Natthawut Buaprathum, a PP list-MP, said the party’s bill is intended to advance the party’s agenda rather than protect the public’s interest.