By Thai Newsroom Reporters
PRIME MINISTER SRETTHA Thavisin today (June 10) shrugged off the criticism recently made by de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra taking Palang Pracharath leader Prawit Wongsuwan to task.
The Pheu Thai-attached prime minister sidestepped reporters’ questions about the relationship between the coalition partners following Thaksin’s criticism of Prawit pertaining to an impeachment lawsuit filed by 40 senators, most of whom were allegedly loyal to the Palang Pracharath leader, against Srettha in court.
Srettha declined to comment whether the coalition partners’ relationship might probably be strained and turn sour with the de facto Pheu Thai boss branding the Palang Pracharath leader “the sole troublemaker” who had allegedly stood behind the impeachment case filed in the Constitutional Court.
Srettha said he had never met Prawit in person though he occasionally talked with his brother/Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Natural Resources & Environment Minister Patcharawat Wongsuwan and Palang Pracharath secretary-general/Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao.
Without naming names, Thaksin had earlier mentioned Prawit by calling him “the Forest Man” who, the de facto Pheu Thai boss said, had been involved in the senators’ impeachment bid against Srettha on grounds of his severely breaching the coup junta-designed constitution and code of political ethics by naming the notorious Pichit Chuenban a minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office in last April’s cabinet lineup.
Prawit concurrently chairs the so-called Five Provinces Bordering Forest Preservation Foundation adjacent to his house in the premises of the First Infantry Regiment.
Pichit, earlier hired by Thaksin as a defence lawyer who had been sentenced to six months in jail for committing contempt of court with a two million baht attempted kickback and had had his lawyer’s licence revoked, had resigned but the senators had viewed it as irrelevant to the fait accompli on the part of the prime minister.
Nevertheless, the de facto Pheu Thai boss has manipulated to play a pivotal part in the power play by, among other acts behind the scenes, allegedly overpowering the prime minister and coalition partners.
If found guilty as charged in court, Srettha could possibly be deprived of his prime minister’s status, thus prompting the Pheu Thai-led coalition government to find his replacement with the likes of the Palang Pracharath leader coming up as a choice, among others.
In the meantime, the Office of the Attorney-General is scheduled for June 18 to bring Thaksin before the Criminal Court to formally hear of lese majeste charges filed against him.
Thaksin who is more or less speculated to be released on bail that day had reportedly mentioned the monarchy in alleged connection with the 2006 coup junta that had ousted him from power during an interview with a news agency in Seoul a few years later.
The content in his interview had been considered by the OAG as a verbal offence to the monarchy, thus tantamount to a violation of the lese majeste law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, under which a convict could possibly be sentenced to a range of three to 15 years in jail.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss had bluntly dismissed the charges as “utterly groundless” with alleged intent of the 2014 coup junta to frame him.
Deposed in the latter coup staged by former army chief-turned-prime minister/now privy councillor Prayut Chan-o-cha was his sister/former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
However, Thaksin confirmed he will certainly appear in court as scheduled for June 18 to fight for justice in the legal battle which could probably take several years.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page: Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, right in above image and left in Front Page image, and de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra. Photos: Thai Rath
Insert: Palang Pracharath leader Prawit Wongsuwan. Photo: Thai Rath
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