Thailand’s Cabinet yesterday approved a request to recall parliament for a special session to deal with the political pressures from ongoing anti-government protests.
The Cabinet at its weekly meeting approved the request, which calls for a non-voting session on Monday and Tuesday next week.
The request for the session came from Thai House of Representatives Speaker Chuan Leekpai, who on Monday said that both government and opposition parties supported it. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also said that he supported the move.
Photo: EPA-EFE
However, the proposal still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
The move for parliamentary debate follows six consecutive days of rallies attended by tens of thousands of protesters calling for Prayuth’s resignation, a rewriting of the constitution and reform of the monarchy.
While Prayuth yesterday did not say how far the government could go in meeting the demands, the parliament might move forward the process of constitutional amendment to placate the protesters.
“Given the escalating protest movement, the parliament won’t be able to delay the process for charter amendment any longer,” said Virot Ali, a lecturer at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Political Science. “The move might be a tactic to buy time without really considering what the protesters demand, which will escalate the movement even further.”
The protesters have vowed to carry on the demonstrations until all their demands are met.
Prayuth ordered police to reconsider censorship of media outlets, a day after police said they would probe four news outlets that might have violated the emergency rules imposed in Bangkok last week.
“Our job is to protect the country and eliminate ill-intentioned actions aimed at creating chaos and conflict in the country,” Prayuth told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
However, Phuchphong Nodthaisong, a senior official from the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said that a court, at the government’s behest, yesterday ordered that Voice TV, an online television station, stop broadcasting on all platforms.
The company, which was founded by the son of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has been sympathetic to the protest movement in its coverage.
Voice TV had also been found to have breached the Computer Crime Act by uploading “false information,” Putchapong told reporters.
Voice TV editor-in-chief Rittikorn Mahakhachabhorn said that it would continue broadcasting until the court order arrived.
“We insist that we have been operating based on journalistic principles and we will continue our work presently,” he said
Meanwhile, two detained protest leaders, Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul and Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, were released yesterday, but were immediately rearrested on other charges, said their lawyer, Noraseth Nanongtoom.
He said they would seek their release on bail when they are brought to court today.
They were initially taken into custody during an attempted overnight rally outside the prime minister’s offices on Wednesday night last week.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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