November 5, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Political News As the world holds its breath to see who will make it to becoming the next president of the United States, the results that are flowing in are making it look a little clearer. As of 09:00 Thai time Joe Biden was leading in every count that is being declared o 264:214 Domestically embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s fate will be decided by the Constitutional Court early next month over his alleged unlawful occupation of an army residence amid constant calls from pro-democracy protesters that carried out months-long rallies. The Constitutional Court set December 2 to rule on a case against Gen Prayut for his prolonged stay in the army-owned residence. The court’s ruling is a result of the opposition’s petition filed by Pheu Thai Party and opposition leader Sompong Amornwiwat who asked the court to consider if Gen Prayut should be disqualified as prime minister and defence minister for remaining in a military house beyond retirement, breaking army regulations and Section 170(4), and Section 184 (3) of the constitution. Pro-democracy activists came out to reject a parliament-initiated plans to form a reconciliation committee, calling it a “political ploy to buy time,” and reiterated the demand for the immediate resignation of embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o- cha. The protesters have spurned Gen Prayut’s request to join the so-called reconciliation committee appointed through the parliamentary process to resolve ongoing political problems. The proposed committee is poised to discuss the demands of the protesters in a bid to ease political tensions and restart the stalled process for charter amendment later this month. However, the protest groups said in a statement that those steps would be meaningless if Gen Prayut clung to power. Meanwhile, outspoken Phalang Pracharat Party (PPRP) MP for Bangkok Sira Jenjakha himself came out to attack Parliament Speaker Chuan Leekpai for approaching former prime ministers Anand Panyarachun; Abhisit Vejjajiva; Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and also Somchai Wongsawat to join the reconciliation panel. Sira said he disapproved of Chuan’s move to approach these senior figures as he said they are partisan figures, citing Anand’s comment that he wants Gen Prayut to resign, raising the question of whether Anand wants to take up the prime ministerial post himself like in the past. Sira accused Chuan of using his power as Parliament Speaker improperly and told Chuan to seek opinion from the Parliament first. The PPRP MP also perceived these senior figures as inappropriate because most of them are old. Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom, former Democrat Party MP and founder of the Thai Pakdee (Loyal Thai) group, came out to make a bold claim that rights group Internet Dialogue on Law Reform (iLaw) received money from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) overseas as an incentive for its charter amendment push. In his Facebook post, Warong accused the iLaw of taking money from 5 foreign NGOs, namely, Open Society Foundation (OSF) Heinrich B?ll Stiftung (HBF) National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR) American Jewish World Service (AJWS) as well as financial support from Google and other independent financiers. Warong pledged to make the truth come out following his claim. He vowed that he would not allow foreign interference in Thailand’s domestic affairs through the charter amendment bid. Meanwhile social media was buzzing with talks and pictures of something that was considered to be the case but there was no proof of such incident, except for the fact that some people have the habit of posting everything they do on social media. One of the lawyers of the student movement group has posted pictures of the recently released lawyer – Anon Nampa, having a party of raw sushi at a house party. The big issue of this party was not the party for Anon, who was among the 1st people to call for the reform of the monarchy, but it was the presence of the leader of ‘Progressive Movement’ leader and former leader of the now defunct Future Forward Party – Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Pro-monarchy movements comprising The People’s Network for the protection of monarchy, the Vocational School Students Defending the Monarchy and the “Archeewa Chuay Chart” (Vocational Students Helping the Nation) came out to seek public apology for skirmishes with student-led protesters during rallies at Ramkhamhaeng University’s Huamark campus on October 21. The royalist groups led by Tossapon Manoonrat, Pansuwan Na Kaew and Thinakorn Plodpai apologised to the public for political violence but said their groups were provoked by pro-democracy supporters. They also defended their groups against distorted information and photos that were spread on social media. Pansuwan went on to say that his group had evidence showing that the “Ramkhamhaeng Network for Democracy” have recruited outsiders to boost its anti-monarchy sentiment. As for the picture of a pro-monarchy supporters throwing speakers at a female protester of the pro-democracy group that went viral for social media, Pansuwan said the female student which is a freshman at Ramkhamhaeng University who hosted the rally tripped over the speakers. No one threw speakers at her, Pansuwan said, telling those who cast doubt on the incident to watch a footage recorded by several media outlets and the university’s CCTV. The pro-monarchy movements also announced to hold a major rally on November 9 to show their force in protecting the royal institution. Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Thailand is said to issue a statement denying reports of the CIA permission for pro-democracy activists to take political asylum in the United States. The Embassy dismissed rumours as groundless saying that the CIA cannot issue visas for anyone. The only agency that can grant political asylum is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, also the Defence Minister, submitted a bill on a national referendum to parliament yesterday, said Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea- ngam. Gen Prayut has been insisting all along that he supports charter amendments and said the move supports the charter amendment bid. His government is not being idle on the issue. The next step is that Parliament President will call a joint sitting of 2 Houses. The government wants to raise 1 question to the public to decide in a referendum expected in December or January if they support charter amendments. Other questions in the referendum that may be included are whether the public supports the establishment of a reconciliation committee to resolve political conflict; the one that was proposed by Parliament Speaker Chuan Leekpai. However, Wissanu ruled out the possibility that a referendum will be held alongside provincial administration organisations (PAO) elections in a short timeframe of 50 days. Given a referendum on charter change, Wissanu said the government must allow sufficient time for the public to study the issue and public forums must be organised to prevent criticism like when the referendum on the constitution in 2017 was held. Provincial administration organisations (PAO) elections are hitting off in a vibrant atmosphere as the Election Commission (EC) said it recorded 6,503 candidates in total during the past 2 days, November 2-3, with Ayutthaya saw the highest number of candidates (77), followed by Chaiyaphum (42), Chumphon (36), Udon Thani (36) and Kanchanaburi (35). Former member of the Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Angkhana Neelaphaijit together with a human rights activist Unchana Heemmina yesterday filed a civil defamation lawsuit defamation against the Office of the Thailand’s Prime Minister and the Royal Thai Army, demanding a compensation of 3 million and 2 million baht, respectively following their claim that the government’s Information Operation (IO) has distorted information and defamed Unchana through the website Puliny.blogspot.com. The two said they are suing the Office of the Prime Minister because it is responsible for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) which in February admitted involvement with the website in question. In February, a spokesperson for ISOC said, during a press conference, that the unit had funded the website Puliny.blogspot.com, with the intention to disseminate accurate information, educate the public about official operations and build understanding among in society. It claimed the main objective was to encourage human rights and peace. The ISOC stated that the website was not operated by the army or ISOC, as a former Future Forward MP, Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, had claimed. In this lawsuit, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha is the main defendant, with the Army as co-defendant. Economic News The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) urged the government to take more action for more trade and investment cooperation via various international forums. The JSCCIB asked the government to push for progress in settling free trade agreements (FTA) talks with more countries, fearing that Thailand may be losing opportunities and competitiveness in global trade forums if it fails to pursue FTA pacts. The joint committee said it prepared to set up a committee with involving agencies to push for negotiations for FTAs, Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the JSCCIB. On the US presidential election, the JSCCIB said if Joe Biden wins the election, the US will much more likely to re-join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It told Thai private sectors to prepare to rely on themselves if Donald Trump wins this election for he is adamant to push for the US nationalism. The JSCCIB also urged Thailand to brace for new lockdowns in many countries across the globe in a bid to contain 2nd waves of COVID-19 that have cropped up around the globe.