Bad blood floods parliament

Government and Opposition MPs yesterday exasperated the Thai public as they tried to match wits during an ill-tempered censure debate against Justice Minister Pracha Promnok.
 The debate was disrupted all day by endless protests, prompting furious responses on social media and from many general viewers. In one of his tweets, Democrat Korn Chatikavanij said that government MPs were trying to divert public attention from the censure by boring the Thai audience into switching off their TVs.
 The debate touched upon two major sensitive issues – the alleged move to pardon Thaksin Shinawatra and the catastrophic floods that have hit people hard in many parts of Thailand, causing Bt1.4 trillion in damage and 615 deaths so far.
The debate garnered public attention because of the gigantic number of people affected by the colossal flooding and their desire to know if MPs would discuss rehabilitation and measures to prevent a disaster on such a scale from hitting the country again.
Pracha, who also heads the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC), was the sole minister targeted by the censure motion and impeachment proceedings. Pracha was also the target of an Opposition attack on the Royal Pardon decree in his capacity as Justice Minister. The opposition accused him of running FROC based purely on nepotism, in violation of the charter, resulting in poor anti-flood measures and scandal-plagued handling of donated and purchased relief supplies.
Democrat heavyweight Jurin Laksanawisit led the no-confidence attack, accusing Pracha of grave failure to properly manage water, human resources, money and flood-relief supplies, causing great damage to the country, and posing a threat of further damage should he continue to serve as head of FROC. Jurin also alleged that Pracha allowed politicians to interfere in state officials’ work, a constitutional offence in violation of Articles 265 and 266.
Jurin insisted that Pracha’s signing of an order appointing four Pheu Thai MPs to a committee to manage flood-relief supplies was an offence – one that Pracha himself acknowledged as unconstitutional when he revoked the order a few days later.
For the sake of comparison, the Opposition earlier cited a case in which then deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban had sought the appointment of 14 Democrat MPs to Culture Ministry posts. Democrat MP Sirichok Sopha said Suthep had not interfered in the ministry’s work because he only asked the ministry to consider the appointments, while Pracha had issued a direct order appointing the four Pheu Thai MPs.
Defending himself over alleged corruption in the procurement of flood-relief supplies, Pracha said the procurement was done before the setting up of FROC, and that he had evidence to back up his claim. Besides, Pracha alleged, the Abhisit government had procured relief supplies at higher prices than had the Yingluck government.
In an attempt to put a stop to the no-confidence debate, government MPs early in the debate raised the question of the constitutionality of the censure motion, citing the Opposition’s failure to make clear whether they wanted to remove Pracha as Justice Minister or FROC director. They went on to request that the House chair seek an interpretation by the Constitution Court on whether FROC is a state agency. The request was dismissed by House chair Charoen Chankomol.
There were so many protests that they took more time than the debate itself, Opposition MPs charged.
Armed with information not only from the mainstream media but also from social media, Democrat MPs continually showed pictures and video clip after video clip featuring flood victims crying for help and those who had lost loved ones to electrocution. The Opposition claimed that at least 102 people had died from electrocution in the flooding due to the government’s grave negligence in failing to prevent such accidents. The Opposition also replayed video clips that earlier damaged the government’s reputation, showing flood-relief supplies donated by the public abandoned at Don Mueang Airport. Another clip, which has circulated heavily on the Internet, was replayed in Parliament showing a group of people revealing that flood-relief supplies from FROC had been loaded onto a truck bearing a placard featuring an image of Thaksin.
Apart from Pracha, Pheu Thai Party Bangkok MP Karun Hosakul was another focus of the censure attack. Democrat MPs accused him of leading his constituents to destroy flood barriers along Klong Prapa, which is a source for tap water for the capital and its suburbs. Karun took the floor in his defence, vowing to quit as an MP if the Opposition could prove that the backhoes that were used to destroy flood barriers came from him or from Don Muang district. He insisted the backhoes were from Pak Kret and not Don Muang, the constituency he represents.
Sirichok later showed a news clip from Nation Channel showing Visit Puangpet, the Pak Kret district chief, insisting that Karun had led his constituents to destroy flood barriers on October 20 and another clip that Sirichok claimed showed Karun telling his constituents that the backhoes belonged to him.
Red-shirt leaders Jatuporn Prompan and Nuttawut Sai-kua played big parts in yesterday’s showdown, which seemed to divide the Thai audience according to their political leanings. The whole day carried the same theme – each side accusing the other of making the flood crisis worse by bringing politics into it.