Tough times ahead as the NLA must decide on contentious issues

But for now, the NLA may deserve credit for passing more than 30 bills in a relatively short time.
NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai has already given the assembly an A-grade for that, even though some of the bills that were passed were proposed during the previous government and may not produce as far-reaching results as the upcoming bills that will get the media spotlight.
The bills being initiated by the Prayut administration, which society has put high hopes on, are ones that politicians and lawmakers in normal circumstances would not dare to push. We are talking about laws that will tax the rich, wealthy property owners and inheritance tax laws  - the key to bridging the income gap and bringing about social and economic equality. In
normal times, politicians in any administration just want to keep the status quo and do nothing to affect people who they owe political, financial or personal debts.
Another law sponsored by the Prayut government is on gatherings in public places, which could have a big impact on the protesters. The PM has said this law is needed to ensure that governments have a proper tool to deal with protesters.
Although the NLA president has denied criticism that the assembly is just a rubber stamp for the junta, he cannot deny that more than half of MPs are military officials. Clear proof that military men in the assembly had to “toe the line” presented itself two weeks ago during a two-hour legal training for NLA members by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam. He was quoted as saying that “getting on board of Pae’s boat (referring to the PM), you must comply with Pae’s decision, or you will be expelled from the boat”.
The NLA has already established an iron rule to prevent fallout from incidents when the assembly lacks a quorum and key bills fail to be passed. This is a lesson learned from the NLA in 2006. NLA member Jetn Siratharanont said many NLA members were top officials who had their normal routines to carry out, so they must manage their time well or they would miss NLA meetings and be disqualified as members.
Member Wallop Tangkananurak said one of the weaknesses of the NLA was that since half were military, they were not legal specialists - but their strength was their good discipline. “They have adjusted by doing homework and looking into each bill before deliberation.”
Although the assembly had lost the balance when it was rocked by criticism over its flip-flop decisions on whether to impeach former Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont, and former Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatchapanich over a constitutional offence, it has quickly gained leverage and deferred the issue for voting early next year.
The result of impeachment
proceedings against ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra over the rice-pledging scheme is expected in February. If given a green light from the top, it is certain that with more than 100 votes of the military members plus the anti-Thaksin camp in the assembly, Yingluck would be impeached. But this would be the case only if there was no “undercurrent” in the NLA. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has dispatched General Noppadol Inthapanya, NCPO adviser, to lobby military members to toe the line. It seemed to work in the beginning, but total unity is now questionable.
With controversial issues up for votes - ranging from the amnesty bill, to the impeachment and the bills that affect the powerful and the wealthy - the NLA still has a long way to prove that it can work in the country’s interest and not just to follow the order of top bosses.