MOVE FORWARD leader Chaithawat Tulathon today (Oct. 1) said the root cause of Senator Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunan being told to leave a restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland, by its Thai owner is the anger felt by many people over senators blocking the party’s former leader and current advisory chairman Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming prime minister, Naewna newspaper said.
At a joint House/Senate meeting on July 13 the total of votes in support of Pita came out 51 votes short of a minimum of 375 as a combined force of 199 MPs and senators abstained from voting only to deny Pita’s attempted rise to power in addition to 182 others who cast nay votes against him.
That compared to 324 lawmakers, mostly being MPs attached to the Move Forward-led coalition partners, who cast yea votes for him.
Chaithawat said a lot of people feel their vote is meaningless because despite 14 million people having chosen Move Forward Party in the May 14 general election with the stunning victory turning it into the largest party with 151 MP seats of the a total of 500, the 249 unelected senators, with one having resigned, still ignored the popular consensus.
This is root cause of the anger and it is understandable, he said, also pointing out that senators’ role cannot be separated from what happened at the restaurant in Iceland nor should any attempt be made to do so.
If Thais do not want to see discrimination arising from political viewpoint then the way out is to amend the political laws so that no one can exercise greater power than the people’s will.
Even though Move Forward does not encourage discrimination based on political stance, senators must realise that this is not just a matter of differing political opinion but that people now distrust them for not respecting their voice.
When asked whether the Thai owner of the restaurant in Iceland was a party member with Senator Somchai Sawangkarn saying if he was so he should be expelled, Chaithawat replied that 14 million people chose Move Forward and they are not all alike but at the same time they are all dissatisfied with the senators.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon, left, and former leader/current advisory chairman Pita Limjaroenrat, right, at Parliament. Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page: Chaithawat Tulathon, right, and Pita Limjaroenrat, left, at the party headquarters recently. Photo: Matichon
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