Pheu Thai, Democrat MPs row via the press
Female MPs from the ruling Pheu Thai Party and opposition Democrat Party staged a cat fight of sorts by holding separate press conferences in the Parliament compound to voice their sentiments on the opposition leader's reference to "stupid women".
A dozen Pheu Thai female MPs led by Sunee Loungvichit slammed Abhisit Vejjajiva for referring to the "Smart Lady" reality-show contest, a project under the government’s Thai Women Empowerment Fund, as being for "stupid women".
Addressing a school in Yan Nawa in Bangkok, he said that there should be no contests to find such women.
Sunee said it was up to the society to decide if Abhisit was mature and people should voice their thoughts on him.
"Abhisit should show that he is a true gentleman and apologise for what he said. If he doesn’t apologise, we will send him a sarong.
"Even though he was not directly referring to Prime Minister Yingluck [Shinawatra], his remark affects women in general," Sunee said.
Though Pheu Thai MPs insist Yingluck’s overseas trips are related to work, the Democrats have been attacking her for making them. Hence, government MPs say, it was quite clear who Abhisit was referring to in his "stupid women" comment.
After the press conference, the Pheu Thai MPs showed the sarongs they were getting ready to give Abhisit if he did not apologise.
Meanwhile, a dozen Democrat MPs led by Jermmas Chuenglertsiri said Abhisit’s remark meant no Thai women were qualified to contest in this "stupid women" competition. Also, Pheu Thai MPs standing up to defend Yingluck was an insult to the prime minister as Abhisit had never mentioned here.
The Democrats went on to say that Pheu Thai female MPs often took the opportunity to unnecessarily use gender issues to attack political rivals. Now, they were using sarongs as their shields, the Democrat MPs said.
Deputy Democrat spokeswoman Mallika Boonmeetrakool said the main purpose of Abhisit’s address was that Yingluck should work in Parliament and not preside over outside events.
She added that all MPs should be working to solve the community’s troubles rather than just protecting Yingluck.
More explanations sought
In a separate development, the Department of Special Investigation will ask the Royal Institute to interpret the meaning of a doctored photo showing Yingluck standing next to a board reading "Tiger, Lion, Guar".
In Thai, these three words are often followed by the word "raed", which means rhino in Thai and has a negative connotation.
