Thida's speech justifies impeachment of judges
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Reds chairwoman Thida Thawornseth on Thursday's afternoon delivered a passionate speech to kickstart the rally at Parliament aiming to impeach Constitution Court judges.
Reds chairwoman Thida Thawornseth on Thursday’s afternoon delivered a passionate speech to kick-start the rally at Parliament aiming to impeach the Constitution Court judges.
“A round of applause for the people today for refusing to bow down to extraconstitutional power, be it tanks, bullets or the scales of justice,” she said, as she concluded her speech.
Thida said the red shirts deemed it necessary to rally because of an unprecedented move to stage a coup not by the military but by the Constitution Court.
She said the high court was a disgrace to the judiciary and a disappointment to the people because the judges were trying to invoke the law against, instead of for the people.
The high court had interpreted the charter provisions without any justification with the aim of usurping power, a form of the judiciary coup, she said, in reference to the court order to suspend the passage of the charter change bill.
She said today’s rally was actually a way for the people to come out and protect the judicial integrity.
She said the red shirts were aware of the difficulties in organising a successful impeachment but they wanted the judges to realise that millions do not want them to hold office any longer.
The power, to change or not to change the charter, was vested in the people, not the judiciary or any other agencies, she said.
Regardless of the outcome of the rally, the impeachment drive will continue in order to demonstrate the people’s will to rein in the judiciary, she said.
Should the rally fail to solicit 20,000 signatures required to sponsor the impeachment motion by today, organisers will submit a petition to show their intent to complete the campaign within the 180-day deadline. The petition will be lodged with the Office of the Senate Speaker.
