Paradorn insists Bhumjaithai most sincere on charter change, denies plotting against People’s Party
Paradorn Prissananantakul says Bhumjaithai remains fully committed to charter change, denies double-crossing the People’s Party and confirms Let’s Go Halves Plus Phase 2 must be put on hold.
PM’s Office Minister and Bhumjaithai Party MP Paradorn Prissananantakul on Friday rejected suggestions that the dissolution of the House by the prime minister showed his party was not sincere about amending the constitution.
He said Bhumjaithai was “the party most genuine” about constitutional change, having made its position clear from the first reading that it would push the amendment process through to success.
“Anything that became an obstacle, we tried to defuse,” he said, adding that Bhumjaithai had backed down on several points in the committee stage.
On the vote for Section 256/28 on Thursday (December 11), he said it had effectively become a contest between the version proposed by the majority on the committee and the amendments tabled by senators.
“The senators said clearly that if they lost in the second reading, they would not vote for it in the third,” Paradorn noted.
“In the third reading, we would definitely not get 67 votes from the Senate. Bhumjaithai therefore had to make a decision, not because of the substance itself, but because we looked to the end goal, which was our promise to see constitutional amendment succeed. We chose the path that could still move forward, so we voted in line with the senators’ reserved opinion,” he said.
Paradorn added that as soon as the special session of Parliament opened on Wednesday (December 10), some MPs immediately rose to ask the House Speaker to accept an urgent motion – in writing – to place the first referendum question on the agenda.
The day before, on Tuesday (December 9), the Cabinet had also tried to table the first referendum question for a decision, he said. However, the secretary-general of the Council of State advised that the initiative to hold a referendum on drafting a new constitution should begin in Parliament, so the item could not be put before Cabinet that day and instead had to be submitted as an urgent motion to the House.
“These two points confirm that we were sincere about following the MOA we agreed with the People’s Party,” he said.
Asked whether it looked as if there had been a plan from the start to betray the People’s Party, Paradorn replied: “No. That condition is not in the MOA. There is no clause spelling out what the substance must be. What we stated is that we would strive to push constitutional amendment to completion.”
Questioned on how the government would explain to the public that, while serious clashes were taking place on the Thai-Cambodian border, Parliament was being dissolved and the country heading for a new election, he said:
“In terms of security threats, the caretaker government remains in office until a new government is formed. Any ongoing matters, such as war risks or natural disasters, can be handled as usual, just like a regular government.”
On whether the Let’s Go Halves Plus Phase 2 co-payment scheme would now have to be shelved, Paradorn said it would indeed have to be put on hold due to restrictions under election law.
“Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas had said the matter would be taken to Cabinet on December 16, but the House was dissolved before that could happen,” he said.
