Gaybutton Posted September 12, 2008 Posted September 12, 2008 The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Samak's Comeback Hopes Dashed as House Adjourns Urgent Session By The Nation Coalition disagreement over Samak Sundaravej has forced a boycott of the House of Representatives' urgent session to select new PM. 10.30 am: All eyes are on the coaltion partners now, as none of them sent MPs to join the urgent House session. Even senior PPP leader are acknowledging that the possibility of Samak's return is causing widespread conflicts. Reporters are asking questions about "shifting loyalty" and "national government" one more time but Chat Thai leaders still politely pledge allegiance to the PPP. 10.20 am: The quorum check showed 161 MPs inside the assembly hall. In the morning, 248 MPs signed their names for the meeting, which made the quorum. Obviously many of those who signed their names decided or were told not to join the urgent session. 10.15 am: The Democrats, who unsuccessfully nominated their leader Abhisit Vejjajiva during the quorum check, described the postponement as a time-buying tactic to settle differences among PPP MPs and coalition allies. It is believed that the PPP's "resolution" to reinstate Samak has caused serious conflicts within the coalition government. 10 am: Chai adjourns House meeting. The House will have to meet again next Wednesday. This confirms serious conflicts within the ruling People Power Party over possible nomination of Samak Sundaravej. Many PPP MPs were absent from the House session today and so were MPs from coalition parties. 9.55 am: The first quorum check reveals not enough MPs are in the assembly hall. Chai announced the House session will be adjourned to next Wednesday, despite some protests. 9.45 am: House Speaker Chai Chidchob is asking for a quorum check. There has been some confusion as to whether he can proceed with calling for a nomination without checking the quorum. 9.15 : PPP MP Areepen Uttarasingh calls for the House to delay meeting to choose new prime minister to be after September 25 when an Appeal Court will consider libel suit appeal against Samak. 9 : 10 am : Chart Thai party's deputy leader Somsak Prissananantakul says after an urgent meeting this morning that his party MPs will not attend the parliament to choose Samak as premier. 8.30 am : Democrat Party MP Thavorn Senniem said his party's MPs will not attend the parliament session in which PPP will nominate Samak as prime minister. The session will have to be delayed if the number of MPs attending the session are less than half of the quorum or 235. 8.30 am : Former prime minister Samak Sundaravej arrives at the Parliament. 8.05 am : MP Preecha Rengsomboon of Isaan Pattana faction countered that his faction would not vote the party line. He did not explain whether the faction would reject Samak, abstain or vote for an alternate candidate. 8 am : People Power Party spokesman Kudep Saikrajang reiterates his party would back the reinstatement of its leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister. 7.50 am : PPP MP Preecha Rengsomboonsuk says in an interview with a news television programme that his faction which comprise more than 70 MPs will not change position and vote for Samak. He criticised Samak of being arrogant and not listening to any criticism. He is the main reasons of political problems at the moment. 7.45 am : Pracharat Party leader Snoh Thienthong has already indicated that he might abstain from House vote at 9.30 am if the PPP insists on nominating Samak. 7.30 am : Chart Thai Party leader Banharn Silapa-archa called an urgent meeting at 7.30 am to finalise his party's position whether to go along with the People Power Party's nomination to reinstate Samak Sundaravej as prime minister. Party's senior members Sanan Kajornprasart, Warawuth Silapa-archa were seen arriving at the party's headquarter. Quote
Gaybutton Posted September 12, 2008 Author Posted September 12, 2008 The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Samak's "Arrogant" Dreams of a Quick Political Return Seem to have Ended Former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's hope for a political comeback suffered a severe blow this morning when his allies both outside and within the ruling party boycotted a special House session to select a new chief executive. The allies disapproval of Samak's reinstatement forced the boycott. The House is scheduled to convene again next Wednesday to elect a new prime minister, but Samak's chances now appear doomed. All eyes are on the coaltion partners now, as none of them sent MPs to join the urgent House session. Even senior PPP leaders are acknowledging that the possibility of Samak's return has caused widespread conflicts. Speculation about the allies 'shifting their loyalty' and the possibilities of a 'national government' have resurfaced. However, it is believed that if the PPP nominates another person, the coalition partners will continue their backing for the ruling camp. A quorum check showed 161 MPs were inside the assembly hall this morning. Earlier, more than 240 MPs had signed their names for the meeting, which would make the quorum. It was obvious that many of those who signed their names decided or were told not to join the urgent session, which required attendance of at least 235 MPs to proceed. On Thursday, the coalition partners resolved to continue backing the PPP in forming a new government after Samak was disqualified by the Constitution Court on Tuesday. That pledge of loyalty, however, did not include backing Samak's return to power. The Democrats, who unsuccessfully nominated their leader Abhisit Vejjajiva during the quorum check, described the postponement as a time-buying tactic to settle differences among PPP MPs and coalition allies. Many PPP MPs were also absent from the Assembly Hall today, underlining reports that Samak was causing a divide even in his own party. Earlier in the morning, PPP MP Areepen Uttarasingh called for postponement of the House session to some time after September 25, when the Appeal Court will consider the lower court's libel conviction against Samak. Former prime minister Samak arrived early at the Parliament in the morning but he refused to talk to reporters. On Thursday, Samak said he didn't fear jail and was ready to risk his personal well-being to fight what he described as a threat to democracy. It was a borderline statement that could be perceived as harsh criticism against the Constitution Court which disqualified him on Tuesday for having conflicts of interests due to his "employment" as TV cooking show host. Hundreds of pro-government crowds gathered in front of Parliament this morning. However the anti-government People's Alliance for Demcoracy cancelled its plan to rally there. The pro-government crowds identified themselves as residents from every province in the Northeast. Every district reportedly organized about 10 to 20 villagers to join the rally. But Samak's trouble began early inside the parliamentary compound, with news about the allies' boycott starting to pour in. Chart Thai party's deputy leader Somsak Prissananantakul said after an urgent party meeting this morning that his party MPs would not attend the parliament session to choose Samak as premier. MP Preecha Rengsomboon of Isaan Pattana faction in the PPP also indicated that his faction would not toe the party line. He did not explain whether the faction would reject Samak outright, or abstain or vote for an alternate candidate. He said his faction was made of some 70 MPs. This was despite claims by PPP spokesman Kudep Saikrajang that his party would strongly back the reinstatement of its leader Samak. According to Preecha, many PPP MPs viewed Samak as being "arrogant" and failing to listen to criticism. Pracharat Party leader Snoh Thienthong had also already indicated that he might abstain from House vote to re-elect Samak. ____________________ And This: _____ Lack of Quorum Delays Parliamentary Vote for New Prime Minister BANGKOK, Sept 12 (TNA) - The parliamentary vote to decide whether Samak Sundaravej would return to the Prime Minister post was forced to delay due to lack of quorum as most of the members of parliament from the coalition parties did not turn up. House Speaker Chai Chidchob decided to postpone the session and ordered the next meeting to nominate new prime minister to be convened on Wednesday at 9:30am. The absence of MPs was apparently due to conflicts among coalition parties of the ruling party -- the People's Power Party (PPP) and also factions inside the PPP itself that opposed the re-nomination of Mr. Samak as prime minister. Mr. Samak was stripped from his post as prime minister on Tuesday after the Constitution Court ruled that he violated the charter due to his having hosted cooking shows on commercial television stations -- which was considered a conflict of interest, but the PPP nonetheless resolved to reinstate the sharp-tongued former premier. Parliament began its special session to nominate a new prime minister at about 9.40 am as 246 of the 470 members of parliament were enrolled for the session, enough numbers to complete a quorum. Banyat Bantadtan from the opposition Democrat Party proposed its party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva to compete for the post of prime minister. Then PPP MP Sukhumphand Ngon-kam asked the House Speaker to check the quorum, and it was determined that there were only 161 members of parliament on hand at the session, which was insufficient for a quorum. Mr. Chai, who chaired the meeting, announced about 10am that the session could not proceed as there were not enough MPs as required by the rules and delay the meeting until next Wednesday. In the absence of the PPPs coalition partners, Democrat Party secretary general Suthep Thuaksuban tried to persuade Mr. Chai to recount the numbers of MPs present at the session but failed to convince the Speaker. Mr. Suthep said after the adjournment of the meeting that he thought Mr. Chai was too quick to call the delay. Meanwhile, PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, currently acting prime minister, said party members would meet in one or two days to discuss the candidates to be proposed for Prime Minister next week but stopped short of saying whether the party would stand by Mr. Samak or not. He added that the decision would also depend on the consultations among the six coalition parties. (TNA) Quote
