lonelywombat
September 12th, 2008, 13:37
Thai parliament delays vote on PM, heightening turmoil
September 12, 2008 - 3:20PM[ 0530 GMT]
Thailand's political turmoil deepenend Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turnup to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak from power for accepting payments for hosting TV cooking shows.
PPP's deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, currently the acting prime minister, played down a forced postponement of the vote until next Wednesday but declined to say whether the party would stick with Samak.
"After today, each party in the coalition will have to hold internal discussions on candidates for next week's vote," he told reporters.
"I cannot say whether there will a change in the candidate's name. It depends on the consultations among the political parties," he said.
The Constitutional Court's ruling did not bar the fiery-tongued 73-year-old Samak from politics over the cooking shows, leaving no legal barrier to him being re-elected.
His People Power Party (PPP) had agreed Thursday to do just that, but the decision sparked a revolt among its coalition partners and even among some of the party's own MPs.
When parliament gathered to vote Friday, none of the coalition's MPs attended the session, forcing a delay due to the lack of a quorum.
About 1,350 police and soldiers stood guard outside parliament as 600 people rallied in support of Samak.
But analysts said the coalition would likely have to find someone else to nominate as premier.
"Within the PPP there are also two or so factions that don't agree on Samak. If you just impose the prime minister on the coalition parties, it's not going to work," said Michael Nelson, a visiting professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"They apparently still need time to figure things out, so maybe if it's clear they can't agree on Samak they will propose another candidate," he said.
The latest twist in Thailand's chaotic political saga heightened the uncertainty that has clouded the kingdom since anti-government protesters stormed into the prime minister's official compound more than two weeks ago.
The protesters have occupied the grounds of the offices ever since, pressing their call for Samak and his government to step down, claiming that they are a proxy for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The same protest group, which calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), spearheaded protests against Thaksin in 2006, leading to a military coup.
Thaksin now lives in exile in Britain to evade corruption charges here, which he says are politically motivated.
Despite his exile, Thaksin still casts a long shadow over Thai politics.
The PPP said he had been consulted on Samak's nomination. Thaksin had personally tapped Samak to lead his supporters in last December's elections.
Even if PPP's coalition agrees on a new candidate, the protesters have vowed to keep up their campaign.
In addition to seeking Samak's ouster, the protesters are pushing a broad agenda to scale back Thailand's democracy by demanding a parliament in which only 30 percent of the seats are elected.
By making 70 percent of the seats appointed, they hope to weaken the voting power of Thailand's poor but populous heartland, where Thaksin earned steadfast support by providing universal health care and low-interest loans
September 12, 2008 - 3:20PM[ 0530 GMT]
Thailand's political turmoil deepenend Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turnup to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak from power for accepting payments for hosting TV cooking shows.
PPP's deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, currently the acting prime minister, played down a forced postponement of the vote until next Wednesday but declined to say whether the party would stick with Samak.
"After today, each party in the coalition will have to hold internal discussions on candidates for next week's vote," he told reporters.
"I cannot say whether there will a change in the candidate's name. It depends on the consultations among the political parties," he said.
The Constitutional Court's ruling did not bar the fiery-tongued 73-year-old Samak from politics over the cooking shows, leaving no legal barrier to him being re-elected.
His People Power Party (PPP) had agreed Thursday to do just that, but the decision sparked a revolt among its coalition partners and even among some of the party's own MPs.
When parliament gathered to vote Friday, none of the coalition's MPs attended the session, forcing a delay due to the lack of a quorum.
About 1,350 police and soldiers stood guard outside parliament as 600 people rallied in support of Samak.
But analysts said the coalition would likely have to find someone else to nominate as premier.
"Within the PPP there are also two or so factions that don't agree on Samak. If you just impose the prime minister on the coalition parties, it's not going to work," said Michael Nelson, a visiting professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"They apparently still need time to figure things out, so maybe if it's clear they can't agree on Samak they will propose another candidate," he said.
The latest twist in Thailand's chaotic political saga heightened the uncertainty that has clouded the kingdom since anti-government protesters stormed into the prime minister's official compound more than two weeks ago.
The protesters have occupied the grounds of the offices ever since, pressing their call for Samak and his government to step down, claiming that they are a proxy for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The same protest group, which calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), spearheaded protests against Thaksin in 2006, leading to a military coup.
Thaksin now lives in exile in Britain to evade corruption charges here, which he says are politically motivated.
Despite his exile, Thaksin still casts a long shadow over Thai politics.
The PPP said he had been consulted on Samak's nomination. Thaksin had personally tapped Samak to lead his supporters in last December's elections.
Even if PPP's coalition agrees on a new candidate, the protesters have vowed to keep up their campaign.
In addition to seeking Samak's ouster, the protesters are pushing a broad agenda to scale back Thailand's democracy by demanding a parliament in which only 30 percent of the seats are elected.
By making 70 percent of the seats appointed, they hope to weaken the voting power of Thailand's poor but populous heartland, where Thaksin earned steadfast support by providing universal health care and low-interest loans