By Rosalind Russell
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s ruling party wants to invoke
the “spirit” of the constitution rather than its exact letter
to break a deadlock caused by the opposition’s election
boycott, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said on
Friday.
However, speaking to foreign reporters two days after Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stepped aside to help solve the
crisis, he failed to explain how to get around a rule that says
parliament must be full for a government to be formed.
“None of us believe the constitution was planned to bring
deadlock to the functioning of the country,” Kantathi said.
But a required first meeting of parliament within 30 days
of the April 2 election would probably not happen, he said.
“The timeframe should not be delayed by too long. We hope
that parliament can be convened within the first part of May,”
he said. “The timeline remains sometime in May, or at the very,
very latest spill into June.”
The three main opposition parties, led by the Democrats,
sparked the mess by boycotting Sunday’s snap poll, which
Thaksin had hoped would neutralize mass street protests against
him.
By-elections are to held on April 23 in the 39 empty seats
— 38 of which are in strong Democrat country — but with all
three opposition parties vowing to extend their boycott, the
run-offs are unlikely to return a winner second time round.
The Democrats also lodged a complaint with the
Administrative Court arguing the by-elections were illegal
because they had been opened up to minor parties not on the
original ballot. The court made no immediate response.
In stepping down, Thaksin, 56, made much of the need for
“national reconciliation” and to avoid spoiling the 60-year
Diamond jubilee of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 78, the
world’s longest-reigning monarch, on June 12-13.
Analysts say his use of the “royal card” puts pressure on
the opposition to make a similarly significant gesture toward
ending the crisis before the celebrations, for which the
country has been preparing for years.
“ON A BREAK”
Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire who won Thailand’s
largest-ever majority only a year ago, says he is taking a rest
from politics. Newspapers have reported he is about to head to
London with his family for a holiday.
However, he wants to retain leadership of his Thai Rak Thai
(Thais Love Thais) party, leading many of his enemies to
suspect he will still pull the strings from behind the scenes.
“Although Thaksin will no longer be the prime minister, he
is still the leader of the party and will bring in his nominee
to implement his policies, which we won’t accept,” said Sondhi
Limthongkul, leader of the street movement against Thaksin.
Sondhi, who accuses Thaksin of corruption, cronyism and
abuse of power, will hold another protest in front of the
golden-spired Grand Palace on Friday, although the theme will
be celebrating — rather than urging — his departure.
The Democrats say they will return to the parliamentary
fray only under a charter that puts more limits on the powers
of the prime minister, to stop what they call another “Thaksin
regime.”
Countering such calls, Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party said
it had already started to look into amending the 1997
constitution, already the 16th in Thailand’s 74 years of
democracy.
After a brainstorming session, deputy leader Bhokin
Bhalakula said 100 Thais from all walks of life, but 20 of them
law experts, should be able to hammer out a new charter in 15
months.
“Members of the political parties should be excluded, and
when the first draft is made we will propose it to the public,”
Bhokin told reporters.
(Additional reporting by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat)
Comments