Democrats petition against House speaker

Songkhla MP Thaworn Senneam led fellow Democrats to submit a petition with Deputy Senate Speaker Surachai Liangbunlertchai, asking that impeachment proceedings against Somsak be based on the Constitution’s Article 270.
Thaworn said Somsak had violated Articles 125 and 137 of the Constitution, which stipulate that the House Speaker carry out his duty in a neutral manner.
The group also alleged that Somsak violated House directives 47 and 59 when the House convened to deliberate on charter amendment early this month.
He said Somsak had intentionally brought the House meeting to a close even though the deliberation had not been completed and that lawmakers had eight hours remaining to vet the amendment.
The group also alleged that Somsak had not allowed enough time for lawmakers to discuss how many days the House committee should spend on vetting the charter amendment.
“Even though Somsak was warned that he was violating the directives, he insisted on ending the meeting early as he wanted to ensure that the Pheu Thai Party – to which he belongs – can influence how many days the House committee should deliberate the bill,” he said.
Surachai said the Senate would spend 15 days checking signatures and forwarding the petition to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to check the complaint and seek a ruling from the Senate.
Thaworn said the group had requested that concerned agencies take three months to complete the impeachment proceedings.
“The fact that the House Speaker rushed to close the session reflects that he failed to carry out his duty. I have been a lawyer for 30 years and I am sure we have grounds for impeachment,’’ Thaworn said.