Category: Thai politics

Categories
Thai politics

WSJ on Yingluck’s EC endorsement: more MPs needed for parliament to convene

The WSJ says today that:

Thailand’s official vote monitor confirmed this month’s election of Yingluck Shinawatra, but more approvals will be required before her party can assume power and she can take office as the nation’s first female prime minister.

The Election Commission…

…hasn’t yet confirmed some other parliamentarians, leaving legal obstacles that could mean Ms. Yingluck’s Puea Thai, or For Thais, party can’t yet assume power. To convene, parliament needs 475 of its 500 members. So far, 370 have been confirmed.

It isn’t unusual for weeks to pass after a Thai election before a new government is formed.

Categories
Thai politics

It’s official: Election Commission endorses Yingluck

A brief item this afternoon from the official MCOT new agency says it’s official:

Election Commission endorses second batch of 12 MPs-elect including Abhisit, Yingluck, Suthep; Red Shirt winners remain suspended

The Bangkok Post has more.

Categories
Thai politics

NYT on ICJ Preah Vihear ruling

The New York Times says:

The top judicial body of the United Nations on Monday sought to defuse tensions at a Southeast Asian flash point, ordering Cambodia and Thailand to withdraw troops from a disputed temple and establishing a demilitarized zone along their mountainous border.

The piece also contains a couple of graphs of helpful background info:

The dispute over the temple has its roots in the period when French colonizers controlled what is modern-day Cambodia. In the early 1900s, French surveyors traced the border line along the watershed of the Dangrek mountain range, but deviated from the watershed at Preah Vihear, placing the temple inside Cambodia. It was an awkward demarcation because of the temple’s location on a bluff more easily accessed from Thailand.

But Thailand’s government made no protest at the time and used the French maps as their own, according to a judgment by the International Court of Justice in 1962. That judgment established that the temple should be inside Cambodian territory. But the ruling did not address the sovereignty of the land surrounding the temple, which is the subject of the ongoing dispute.

Again, here’s my post on the subject from yesterday.

Categories
Thai politics

ICJ: Thailand, Cambodia troops should withdraw from Preah Vihear

2011 07 18 preah vihear

There’s news today from the U.N.’s International Court of Justice on the Preah Vihear temple. The BBC says:

The UN’s highest court has ordered Thailand and Cambodia to withdraw troops from a disputed border region near an ancient temple complex.

And:

The court said both sides must allow access to observers from the regional bloc Asean.

The AP reports:

The court drew a “provisional demilitarized zone” around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple that would push Thai troops back from positions they have long occupied and would see Cambodian armed forces leave the temple’s immediate vicinity.

Meanwhile, here is an ICJ press release (PDF) on the ruling.

How will the news affect Thailand’s domestic politics? (Or politics within Cambodia, for that matter?) That’s still unclear.

Before the ruling, the Bangkok Post reported that:

There will not be any immediate troop withdrawal from the disputed area around Preah Vihear temple, regardless of the decision due today from the International Court of Justice, Army Region 2 spokesman Prawit Hukaew said on Monday.

(Emphasis mine.)

For more on the issue, see the Preah Vihear tag.

(Image: Wikipedia.)

Categories
Thai politics

More on the EC delay

More on the Election Commission delay I mentioned yesterday: The New York Times notes:

Efforts to form a new government in Thailand are being snarled by a docket of legal challenges and what critics say are the slow workings of the country’s Election Commission.

The messy aftermath of the July 3 election, which was won by a party backed by the ousted prime minister and billionaire in exile Thaksin Shinawatra, has raised the possibility that the outcome might be reversed, angering supporters of Thailand’s many political factions and ushering in a return to street politics.

And later:

The Election Commission has nearly three weeks to certify the election, a time frame that Gothom Arya, a former election commissioner, said was feasible.

“I am an optimist,” Mr. Gothom said. “The rule of the game is that within 30 days, you have to announce the result. I think they will do it.”

Meanwhile, BP also has some analysis.

Categories
Thai politics

Yingluck and others yet to be endorsed by Thailand’s Election Commission

2011 07 13 nation yingluck

While it’s unclear whether the news constitutes a “bombshell,” as the Nation headline says, here are some details.

Today’s Bangkok Post tells us that:

Yingluck Shinawatra, Abhisit Vejjajiva and a number of red-shirt politicians were missing from the 358 MPs endorsed by the Election Commission yesterday.

They failed to receive confirmation of their election victories from the EC in its first batch of result endorsements, as investigations into complaints against them for allegedly breaching election law are pending.

Pheu Thai’s Ms Yingluck, who is expected to be the next prime minister, Mr Abhisit, the outgoing premier and former Democrat Party leader, and key red shirt leaders including Jatuporn Prompan and Natthawut Saikua are among 142 poll winners whose confirmations have been suspended pending investigation.

And:

Also among those not yet endorsed are the Democrat Party’s acting secretary general and deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, the Democrats’ PM’s Office Minister Ong-art Klampaibul and former House speaker Chai Chidchob from the Bhumjaithai Party.

And finally, on the would-be “noodle-gate“:

Ms Yingluck, meanwhile, has been cleared by the EC of alleged vote-buying in connection with a highly publicised incident when she fried noodles and distributed portions to voters during a May 31 campaign stop in Nakhon Ratchasima province. However, the EC has not yet ruled on other allegations facing her, and so her poll win cannot yet be endorsed.

Meanwhile, the Nation says:

The Election Commission rattled would-be prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai Party last night after it delayed endorsement of her election win and those of 11 other party candidates.

The commission said the endorsement of Yingluck was delayed pending an inquiry into “several” legal matters regarding her party’s election campaign. Yingluck was portrayed by Pheu Thai as its prime ministerial candidate with a controversial slogan “Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts”. She was also accused of violating vote-buying rules by cooking and distributing noodle dishes to constituents. Subsequently, the accusation was dropped by the EC.

The EC also held back endorsement of former Democrat leader and outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva over complaints of vote-buying.

However, the EC has never “suspended” top party-list candidates in the past.

And:

The EC traditionally does not immediately endorse those who have had complaints lodged against them. The EC will meet again on July 19 to reconsider those have not yet been endorsed. EC member Sodsri Sataya-thum said a subcommittee would look into legal matters concerning the cases of Yingluck and Abhisit and report to the EC in seven days.

Endorsed members of Parliament were advised to pick up documents for their House of Represen-tatives registration from tomorrow.

The EC will have 30 days to investigate the cases of the other 55 MPs-elect who were questioned, the source said. By August 1, at least 475 MPs must be endorsed so that the House can assemble and begin work.

(All emphasis mine.)

(Image: @lekasina on Lockerz.)

Categories
Thai politics

Suit filed against Yingluck for alleged help from banned politicians

I wanted to point out this WSJ story from Saturday, which notes that:

Critics of incoming Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her allies filed the first major legal case challenging their recent election victory, signaling the start of what could become a protracted effort to destabilize Thailand’s new government.

The case, filed Friday by the head of the legal team for Thailand’s outgoing ruling party, seeks to dissolve Ms. Yingluck’s victorious Puea Thai party for allegedly relying on campaign help from politicians previously banned from Thai politics. Chief among them is Thaksin Shinawatra…

(All emphasis mine.)

Categories
Thai politics

An unexpected Yingluck-related lede…

2011 07 11 yingluck noodles

…comes from Saturday’s Bangkok Post, which noted:

The EC is investigating an allegation that Pheu Thai’s potential candidate for premiership Yingluck Shinawatra violated election law when she cooked fried noodles and distributed it to the voters during a May 31 campaign stop in Nakhon Ratchasima province. But at first glance, it is likely she did nothing wrong.

(Emphasis mine.)

BP has some commentary.

It appears unlikely that anything will come of this alleged transgression. But just noting it for the record, given former PM Samak’s food-related firing in 2008.

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

Categories
Thai politics

My new GlobalPost story: Yingluck, women’s rights, and Thailand

I have a new story at GlobalPost. It’s called “Thailand: Is Yingluck a win for women’s rights?“

Categories
Thai politics

More on potential anti-Yingluck demonstrations

Reuters has more on potential anti-Yingluck demonstrations, which the WSJ mentioned earlier:

Days after Thailand voted for a new government led by the country’s first woman prime minister, a determined doctor with a knack for rallying crowds is pursuing legal action to bring her down.

Tul Sitthisomwong, a die-hard opponent of self-exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accuses the billionaire’s sister and Prime Minister elect, Yingluck Shinawtra, of perjury and wants the courts to indict her before she takes office.