By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE FIRST MEETING of the House of Representatives’ newly-opened session today (July 3) abruptly ended after less than one hour due to lack of a quorum.
Barely half an hour after MPs on both sides of the House chamber’s aisle had reconvened for the first meeting of the new House session, a Palang Pracharath MP exercised the legislative right to have the quorum counted, obliging Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangpan to wait for all elected lawmakers who may have been anywhere in the premises of parliament to scramble to attend it whilst a Pheu Thai MP tried to stall time by calling for the counting of the attendees on roll-call basis which could otherwise last a few hours.
Given an unexpected phenomenon in which too many MPs were obviously absent in the House chamber to make a quorum after spending a couple of months in recess, Pichet finally called it a day after he had chaired the first meeting of the latest House session for only 45 minutes, including 10 minutes of waiting for those who may have attended today’s Budget Committee meeting, among others.
Given the current total of 495 performing legislators, a minimum of one half accounting for 248 MPs was needed to make a quorum.
Among top items of the House agenda is legislation of the Pheu Thai-led government to open casinos under the name of entertainment complex projects which would likely be postponed in the wake of resolute objection not only expressed by opposition lawmakers but many members of the public.
Meanwhile, Thai Sang Thai leader Sudarat Keyurapan called on Thai Sang Thai MP Takorn Tantasith to resign because the renegade MP had accepted a ministerial seat for his son, namely Chantawit Tantasith, to assume among those in the latest Pheu Thai-led cabinet lineup whilst the party still remains in the opposition bloc.
Takorn’s son had been quietly offered the seat of deputy commerce minister by de facto Klatham boss Thammanat Prompao who is known to be closely associated with de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been ordered by the Constitutional Court to stop performing her executive duties as prime minister pending a court verdict in an impeachment lawsuit filed in pursuit of an end to her rule.
However, the embattled Paetongtarn is currently in charge of the culture portfolio under the new cabinet headed by Thaksin’s right-hand man/Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Interior Minister Phumtham Wechayachai who is now running the country as acting prime minister.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Some MPs at today’s first meeting of the House’s newly-opened session. Photo: PPTV HD 36
Insert: Thai Sang Thai leader Sudarat Keyurapan. Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page: Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangpan. Photo: Thai Rath
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