First reading null and void: MP

 

Furthermore, he said, House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont had neglected to address a motion in which the Democrats demanded a 60-day deadline to vet the draft provisions, and instead he set the deadline at 15 days.

 

In light of Somsak’s alleged lapse of performance, the Democrats will file a motion to have him impeached after the Songkran holidays, Ong-art said.

 

He also stated that Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanij was not justified in blaming the Democrats for stalling charter change. 

 

Democrat MP Warong Dechgitvigrom said Pheu Thai spokesman Promphong Nopparit had tried but failed to blame him for the botched vote on amending the Constitution. Promphong wrongly tried to pass the blame on to the Democrat MP, but could not continue because of the lack of a quorum. 

 

Pheu Thai deputy spokesman Anusorn Eiamsa-ard said the Democrats were doing everything in their power to block the efforts to amend the Constitution, adding that the process was valid as it followed the legislative process. 

 

As for judicial intervention, he said that if the high court ruled in favour of the Democrats, then the public could question the judiciary’s neutrality, adding that the Democrats were playing a game as their moves to block the charter rewrite were not justified. 

 

Separately, the group of 40 senators who have drawn up a petition against the government’s Bt2-trillion infrastructure and high-speed-rail project will take it to the Ombudsman instead of the Constitutional Court, mainly because the act on private-sector investments in state projects has already been published in the Royal Gazette. 

 

Group leader Senator Paiboon Nititawan questioned whether the Royal Gazette was being used by the government to support its planned mega-projects, and will call on the Ombudsman to decide whether these projects should be transparent. Under Article 245 (1) of the charter, the State Ombudsman has the power to refer cases for the Constitutional Court.

 

Meanwhile, government Deputy Spokeswoman Sunisa Lertpakawat reacted against the Democrat Party’s attack on the proposed high-speed-rail project, saying it had been clarified that the Northeast route would run to Nong Khai province, not just to Nakhon Ratchasima to link up with China as alleged. 

 

She accused the Democrats of deliberately failing to get the message across despite repeated clarifications. 

 

Noppadol Pattama, legal adviser of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, posted a message on his Facebook page saying Vietnam was planning to buy bullet trains from Japan to develop its own high-speed-rail network even though Thailand was more suited to become a regional hub. 

 

Thaksin also posted a message on his Facebook page saying the Bt2-trillion loan would not burden the economy because Thailand would grow in tandem as a result of rising incomes, better opportunities and reduced transport costs. 

 

He said the level of public debt at no more than 60 per cent of gross domestic product was still considered good and it might not take 50 years to repay the loan.

 

Meanwhile, Ong-art said the Democrat Party was not against building a better infrastructure, but was concerned that if the loan and projects are badly managed, they will become a burden on the public.