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THREAD: Parliament is coming out of recess early for a special general debate addressing the current ongoing #ThaiProtests2020 and their demands for political reforms - or are they? The answer, as usual, is not simple and so are the circumstances… (cont.) #ม๊อบ26ตุลา
2) First some facts: 23 hrs of session time spread across two days. Allocated speaking time: Opposition 8 hrs, while coalition, the cabinet and the fully-appointed Senate get 5 hrs each. They do not vote on anything so nothing of this debate is really binding for the govt.
3) The govt has suggested 3 topics for the session as circulated in Thai media: 1) #COVID19 risks posed by the #ThaiProtests2020, 2) The Queen’s convoy incident on Oct 14, 3) offenses and violations by the protesters.
Ok…couple of notes here…
Ok…couple of notes here…
4) Re. the Queen’s convoy incident on Oct 14: arguably the main reason why the govt invoked an emergency decree banning protests (that has only backfired). The colleagues at Reuters already have done a highly recommended deep-dive analysis of this incident: https://twitter.com/patpichatan/status/1319591005998313474">https://twitter.com/patpichat...
5) As for the other two points by the govt: it reiterates PM @prayutofficial’s claim from his Wednesday speech (see below) that protesters have "committed crimes" against police (which protesters have vehemently rejected). And the #COVID19 claim…pfff! https://twitter.com/saksithcna/status/1318887989670338560">https://twitter.com/saksithcn...
6) The opposition on the other hand wants to pick up some of the #ThaiProtests2020 demands, but the @PheuThaiParty, the largest opposition party, is passing the hot potato of monarchy reforms to @MFPThailand. Const. reforms are also on the cards - which brings us to last Sept… https://twitter.com/thaipbsworld/status/1320356510946320384">https://twitter.com/thaipbswo...
7) …when a joint-parliament-senate-session debated for 3 days about const. reforms, only for the coalition to make a bait-and-switch and pushed a vote for a committee through, effectively delaying the whole thing by a month - and arguably fueling the current #ThaiProtests2020 https://twitter.com/saksithcna/status/1309119970463416320">https://twitter.com/saksithcn...
8) At the moment the parliamentary screening committee on constitutional amendments is still convening during recess - the opposition is boycotting it - but news came out recently that they need more time to finish the work.
9) There’s no word yet whether PM @prayutofficial or which cabinet ministers will join the special session. But as said, there’s no vote per se and nothing legally binding to the govt - they *can* implement the recommendations but they can just as much ignore them.
10) And that also shows that parliament *can* be one venue for reform, but in Thailand the centers of powers lie elsewhere and have mostly eluded parliamentary scrutiny, making the #ThaiProtests2020 demands for vast political changes difficult. (ENDS)
11) CORRECTION: PM @prayutofficial *is* in the House right now https://twitter.com/thaipbsnews/status/1320562640410660867">https://twitter.com/thaipbsne...
