By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE OPPOSITION People’s are apparently working to the ruling Bhumjaithai’s advantage, either inadvertently or purposely, now that the long-awaited censure debate and no-confidence votes have been put off until the second week of December, according to a noted political scientist.
Given the latest phenomenon in which the People’s whips just agreed with government whips to reschedule the censure debate against Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and 17 other Bhumjaithai members of cabinet for the period between Dec.7 and Dec.10 and the subsequent no-confidence votes for Dec.11, the sensational fodder for the four-day grilling session would likely wither away from public attention as it has been considerably delayed in favour of the “Blue” regime, a political jargon depicting the largest ruling party, no matter if the largest opposition camp may honestly know it or not, Burapa University political scientist Olarn Thinbangtieo remarked.
The Bhumjaithai, core of the coalition government directed behind the scenes by de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, would certainly take a long breather from now until December, thus given more than enough time to address those yet-unresolved scandals besieging the prime minister-cum-interior minister and the other targeted members of cabinet, all being attached to Newin’s camp.
The longer the censure debate is delayed, the better for the ”Blue” regime whilst the bargaining power of the Pheu Thai, the second largest coalition partner none of whose members of cabinet is being grilled alongside the Bhumjaithai’s, will undoubtedly be kept at bay with de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra’s desperate demand for a complete amnesty to all his convicted lawsuits would likely be unmet by Newin’s camp, Olarn forecast.
Importantly, the Burapa political scientist said, the People’s might probably be outwitted by the Bhumjaithai again after they had been lured into endorsing last year’s setup of a Bhumjaithai-led minority government under Anutin’s premiership supposedly in exchange for an ultimate move on the part of Newin’s camp to spearhead the drawn-out amendment to the coup junta-designed constitution which has been yet far from substantially materialising.
“Given such a long breather until the censure debate has occurred, the Bhumjaithai would not worry much about anything as time is on their side whereas the Pheu Thai would likely remain as a meek coalition partner whilst the Klatham would only wait longer for the future opportunity to jump onto the bandwagon of government, which might probably go far beyond the censure episode,” the Burapa political scientist said, referring to the “non-aligned” party headed by the maverick Thammanat Prompao who has made no secret of his unwavering desire to join the executive branch at any given time.
That the People’s had planned to take to task as many as 18 censure targets in the predominant Bhumjaithai cabinet and to consume as many as five consecutive days apparently backfired to the extent that the censure debate and no-confidence votes were considerably delayed until December in lieu of this week as previously proposed, Olarn pointed out.
According to the academic observer, only four or five main censure targets among those members of cabinet would be just enough for the People’s-led opposition bloc to send Newin’s camp reeling under pressure from within the House of Representatives and without though the Bhumjaithai-led government as a whole would very likely survive the censure debate and no-confidence votes.
“The People’s contentious acts could probably help the Bhumjaithai government sail more smoothly than anticipated as if nothing had seriously mattered to them with the Pheu Thai and Klatham being virtually outwitted and rendered helpless in their power play,” he put it.
He said the “too many” censure targets should have been reduced by over a dozen and only the relatively significant, pivotal figures been picked, namely Anutin as Bhumjaithai leader and prime minister-cum-interior minister, Newin’s son Chaichanok Chidchob as Bhumjaithai secretary-general and digital economy & society minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn as deputy prime minister-cum-transport minister and Songsak Thongsri as deputy prime minister.
At issue for censure debate primarily include a notorious, transnational money-laundering and online casino interest earlier held by a Bhumjaithai MP and her Chinese spouse in alleged association with, among others, the digital economy & society minister, an alleged Bhumjaithai involvement in the 2024 senatorial rigging conspiracy and a premeditated, organised fraud over last year’s exams for local government personnel, among other wrongdoing and incompetence charges.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page: Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, and People’s leader Nattapong Ruangpanyawut, right. Photo – PPTVHD36
Insert: Academic Olarn Thinbangtieo. Photo – Facebook
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