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September 9, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Political News The general debate (without a debate) ended at 01:20 hrs. this morning with a statement from embattled Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who came out to say that “You all have been calling on me to quit, I will manage my time according to what I think is right” “You all call me the ‘military dictator’ but I think there was sometime not too long ago there was a parliamentary dictator. I don’t remember under who it was a parliamentary dictatorship” “Also when the time comes I will not run away from my allegations and cases unlike some people” “I am not going to harm any of those who are protesting on the streets, they are your and my children, but there are those who are behind them who are instigating them to do what they are doing” Kao Klai (Move Forward) party leader Pita Limjaroenrat took to the House floor to criticise the government of Prime Minister Prayut of failing to solve any pressing issues as he put it this way: “Amid pressing issues facing the country, the “captain” (Gen Prayut) continues to give an indifferent shrug to the hardships facing the people,” Pita said, pointing that Gen Prayut had the absolute privilege than other prime ministers or other national leaders without having to go through checks and balances. “As a result, Thailand’s economic performance is the second worst in Asia throughout his 5-year reign.” Pita said this pointed to the lack of effective leadership of Gen Prayut before he went on to attack many flaws the 2017 constitution, especially the 250-member chamber that has been instrumental in bringing former National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) leader, Gen Prayut, back to power. Pheu Thai Party secretary-general Anudith Nakornthap, the first opposition MP to take the floor, branded Gen Prayut as the prime minister who caused the country’s public debt to rise more than others in the Thai history. He said eventually Gen Prayut will be the prime minister who faced the most pressure from the public to step down. Anudith then raised flashed a 3-finger salute in the House chamber before he went on to proclaim the slogan “let it end in our generation” with 4 demands: 1) An end to violence 2) An end to intimidation 3) An end to police summons 4) An end to dictatorship Anudith called for Gen Prayut to step down an easy way out to all problems, saying that this is what Thai people in the entire nation want. Pheu Thai’s MP shows a poster of the protest movement in the parliament asking ‘Prayut the dictator to Get Out’ During the debate Yuthapong Charasathien, an MP of Pheu Thai Party revealed the details of the 2 submarines worth 22.5 billion baht that has been shelved and for 1 that payments have been made as being not that of a government to government deal. He showed details in the parliament on how the payments were made to a private company that was registered capital of a mere 5-million baht which has its registered office at Evergreen Tower in Bangna area The planned anti-government event slated for September 19, 2020 is set to be a prolonged event and protestors have said that they will stay overnight and will march to the Government House on Sunday September 20, 2020. The details of the plans were announced by activists Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, and Panusaya Sithijirawattankul, a leader of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration. The group said that if the crowd is large enough they will walk from the university campus to the grounds of Sanam Luang and on to Ratchdamnoen Road, and will name the road as ‘Rasadorndanmoen Road’ (Rasadorn means people while Ratch means ruler/government) Panusaya said the group---now calling itself the United Front of Thammasat group---plans to rally inside Thammsat University Tha Prachan Campus on the day from 14.00 hrs on the day and camp there for a night. However, they plan to move to Sanam Luang if the Thammasat Tha Phrachan Campus is too small to accommodate growing numbers of protesters. If more than 100,000 people join the rally, the group plans to march on Government House next week to pile more pressure on the military-backed administration to step down. Parit said he is confident that the planned rally will not spiral into violence like the October 6, 1976 incident as feared by many. He said the planned rally will be held in a non-violent way. Parit and Panusaya said the rally will take place under the name “September 19: Bring Back the Power to People.” Parit also confirmed the monarchy will definitely be the subject of discussion at the rally. “The ceiling has already been broken since the 10 demands were announced, now it’s time for us to flutter,” the activist said. The date of September 19 also coincides with the military coup that toppled PM Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 and is now considered by many analysts to be a major turning point in Thai political history. The issue of the activists making the statement made it to the front pages of all major media outlets in Thailand. The front pages of 3 leading media outlets (Thai Rath, Matichon and business focused Krungthep Thurakij) all covering the planned protest and the parliamentary debate as their lead stories Separately, the “Free Youth Group” posted a message on its Facebook page that police issued an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old student who joined the #Ratchaburi takes on dictatorship”, an anti-government rally in Ratchaburi province on August 1, 2020. The page said this is the first time a summons was issued to a student. Amid rumours of a possible coup, all eyes are on a meeting of army agencies scheduled at 9.00 hrs tomorrow (September 11) at the army’s headquarters. This meeting will be the last meeting chaired by army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong before his mandatory retirement at the end of September. Gen Apirat is expected to give special orders to instruct troops to prepare for various groups of anti-government rallies set to be held across the country and attacks on the government social media platforms by its opponents at the tomorrow meeting. There are reports that the annual military reshuffle list is now ready to be submitted for royal approval after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, also the Defence Minister, yesterday (September 9) gave the final green light to the annual reshuffle of generals of all the armed forces and this will soon be sent for royal endorsement by His Majesty the King. As for the reshuffle of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, deputy army chief Gen Narongphan Jitkaewtae is tipped to succeed Gen Apirat Kongsompong as army chief; Adm Chatchai Srivorakarn, the assistant navy chief, will be promoted to become the new navy commander, replacing navy commander Adm Luechai Ruddit. Adm Chatchai is said to gain full approval from Ad Leuchai, Gen Prayut and Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan. ACM Airbull Suttiwan has won air force commander ACM Maanat Wongwat’s nomination as his successor. Gen Chalermpol Srisawat, the armed forces chief of staff, would move to supreme commander. The Opposition’s plans to seek amendments to the 2017 constitution is up in the air following reports which came out that Kao Klai’s motion to seek an amendment to Section 272 of the charter to curb the powers of the Senate in joining the process of the election of a prime minister, has now been aborted after 99 MPs from 13 parties including government coalition parties withdrew their support. It is reported that several MPs of the coalition parties including Democrat MPs who agreed to second the motion withdrew their support at the last minute. In part of the Democrat Party, there are reports that a group of 16 Democrat MPs who were among those who threw support behind Kao Klai’s charter amendment motion had faced immense pressure from Democrat senior figures like party leader Jurin Laksanavisit, party chief advisors Chuan Leekpai and Banyat Bantadtan to withdraw their names. However, Democrat Party spokesman Rames Ratanachaweng came out to deny this rumour, saying that his party has not reached a resolution on the matter. He denied to say how many MPs withdrew support for the motion seeking an amendment to Section 272. Meanwhile, several MPs of small coalition parties who had signed up to second the Kao Klai’s motion to amend Section 272 were also lobbied intensely to withdraw their support. As a result, Kao Klai’s attempt to submit the motion was aborted as for a motion to be accepted for debate in the House, it needs support of at least one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives, or 98 MPs. After the withdrawals of the MPs their numbers have fallen below 80 MPs thus the motion will fail to be debated in the parliament. Following the failed attempt to amend Section 272, there are reports that key members of the opposition Pheu Thai Party immediately approached Kao Kai leading members to ask them to switch to supporting the party’s 4 motions seeking broader amendments of the charter, including Section 272. Pheu Thai expects to submit its 4 motions to House Speaker Chuan Leekpai today (September 10). Economic News The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) yesterday (September 9) expressed grave concerns about rising anti-government protests, a sinking economy and Thailand’s unemployment situation as it warned that unemployment will keep growing next year if state stimulus packages are not strong enough to battle economic woes.