Many factors forced Yongyuth out: Democrat
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The resignation of Deputy Premier Yongyuth Wichaidit on Friday was not a case of making a graceful exit, but the result of pressure piled on by the Democrat Party and other factors, Democrat Party MP Ong-art Klampaiboon said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Ong-art said those other factors included the decision by an “influential person abroad” to save the government by sacrificing Yongyuth after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) indicted him for committing malfeasance when he was deputy permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry.
Ong-art said Yongyuth had also come under pressure from some red-shirt groups, and increasingly from society as a whole. But the issue was not over, he said, because Yongyuth was still an MP and this might violate Article 102 (6) of the charter. Tomorrow, the Democrat Party will try to collect signatures of 10 per cent of MPs as required by law to petition the House Speaker to request that the Constitution Court look into the matter.
Another Democrat MP, Thaworn Senneam, shared the view that Yongyuth was pressured to quit by his party, Pheu Thai.
Thaworn said that Yongyuth should not have resigned if he thought he had done nothing wrong.
However, deputy government spokesperson Anusorn Iamsa-ard praised Yongyuth’s decision to step down, saying he sacrificed himself to save the government and enable the Yingluck administration to proceed smoothly. Anusorn said the resignation had reduced the chance of the opposition exploiting the situation.
It was a team play, said Anusorn, who denied there was any pressure from ousted fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to have Yongyuth resign.
The deputy spokesperson said the opposition could forget trying to destabilise the ruling party now that Yongyuth had resigned. He said all Pheu Thai MPs were well disciplined and the government was ready to continue serving the people.
Pheu Thai Bangkok MP Vicharn Meenchainan urged the opposition to stop pressuring Yongyuth, since he had tendered his resignation effective tomorrow. The opposition should work instead with the government to solve the country’s problems, he said. Vicharn added that he thought a Cabinet reshuffle was not imminent.
Yongyuth said yesterday that he would continue to assist Prime Minister Yingluck to the best of his ability in other capacities.
Yongyuth, who is still the leader of the Pheu Thai Party, said again that nobody had forced him to resign.
“I wouldn’t be sitting here [if someone had forced me out]. I would expose to the media that I had been coerced… I will stick with the party, even without any position, as an ordinary member. And if they say I can’t remain a party member as it may be illegal, then I will be just be a citizen who works with the party, and work until I can no longer walk. So do you think this a situation in which a person has been forced?”
