By Thai Newsroom Reporters
PRIME MINISTER PAETONGTARN Shinawatra was today (Dec. 24) suggested to dissolve the House of Representatives sooner than later to take responsibility for her sustained failure to cut the expensive power rates.
People’s leader Nattapong Ruangpanyawut was holding the woman prime minister/daughter of de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra completely accountable for the apparent failure on her part to reduce the high power rates in effort to alleviate the economic woes of consumers throughout the country and advised she promptly dissolve the House to take accountability for the unbecoming failure to manage to do so and to pave way for a new government to do it after a subsequent, general election has been held.
The People’s leader said the power rates issue would almost certainly be picked as refreshed fodder, among others, for censure debate against the Pheu Thai-led government speculated as soon as next month if the prime minister continued to run the country.
Nattapong said he viewed Paetongtarn’s excuses as “utterly lame and irrational” for the failure to cut the power rates due to the purported circumstances under which, she said, she could not have manipulated majority decisions made by the National Energy Policy Council which was in charge of purchasing and pricing the power from electricity-producing giants, namely Ratch Group Pcl. and Gulf Energy Development Pcl., among others.
The People’s leader contended that 14 out of a total of 19 NEPC members were concurrently acting as members of cabinet who could practically have voted in support of the Pheu Thai-led government’s purported plans to cut the power rates only if the prime minister had told them to.
Nevertheless, Nattapong said, Paetongtarn could still manage to do so shortly by denying extension of the power purchase contracts scheduled to expire next Monday.
At a Pathum Thani golf course over the last weekend, the prime minister’s father/de facto Pheu Thai boss played golf with Gulf Energy CEO Sarath Ratanavadi alongside PTT CEO Kongkrapan Intarajang and Bhumjaithai leader/Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page: Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Photos: Thai Rath
Insert: People’s leader Nattapong Ruangpanyawut. Photo: Thai Rath
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