Organization: Central Michigan University
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Mon, 5 Oct 1992 10:19:09 EDT
From:         Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      TH: Marut slips in first House session

=======================  Forwarded  Message  ===========================
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 92 15:59:49+0700
From: Yongyuth Pahirah <yongyuth@ipied.tu.ac.th>

The Nation Oct 2 edition

  House Speaker Marut Bunnag fell into a series of ambushes in the first
  sitting of the House of Representatives yesterday as opposition MPs tried to
  overwhelm him with complex parliamentary procedures and taunted him with
  petty matters.

  Marut conceded an Opposition demand to put on the House agenda a
  controversial executive decree to reform the judiciary and an urgent motion
  seeking a delay in enforcing a law requiring motorists to take out third
  party insurance.

  But neither of the two items was debated yesterday because MPs spent too
  much time engaging in lengthy, vindictive arguments on how the meeting
  should proceed.

  ``Today's meeting proceeded under a favourable atmosphere. ...
  Unfortunately, every new House speaker must go through all this,'' Marut
  told reporters after he adjourned the House about 3.30 pm.

  Marut came under attack from several opposition MPs who reproached him for
  not including on yesterday's agenda the judicial reform decree issued by the
  Anand administration and another executive decree issued by the Suchinda
  administration granting amnesty to all involved in the May 17-20 bloodshed.

  Marut eventually complied with the opposition MPs' demand and put the
  judicial reform decree on the agenda. But he maintained his concession was
  not an admission he had made a mistake in originally leaving the decree off
  the agenda.

  ``It was a matter of a difference of opinion,'' the House speaker said.

  Seniormost MP, Boontheng Thongsawat (Chat Pattana-Lampang) was appointed the
  acting House speaker when the House meeting started at 9.30 am. Boontheng
  read out the royal command appointing Democrat Party leader Chuan Leekpai as
  prime minister, Marut as House speaker, Meechai Ruchuphan as Senate speaker.

  As soon as the new House speaker took his seat, MP Pinit Jantarasurin (Chat
  Thai-Lampang) accused him of breaching the parliamentary tradition by not
  including the judicial reform bill and the amnesty bill on the House agenda.

  Pinit claimed that by tradition the House speaker must put on the House
  agenda any law that was made in the absence of the House in the first House
  meeting. He also demanded that former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and
  former justice minister explain to the House why his government had to issue
  a royal decree to amend the Judicial Officials Act.

  ``Are you going to break with the tradition and intentionally make a
  mistake, Speaker Marut?'' the Chat Thai MP asked.

  Marut said he intended to put the two pieces of legislation on the House
  agenda after the Chuan government sworn in before HM the King later
  yesterday. The House speaker said it was the duty of the new government _
  not the Anand Administration _ to clarify its position on the two executive
  decrees.

  Prachakorn Thai Party leader Samak Sundaravej charged that Marut was being
  protective of the Anand Administration in not including the two
  controversial pieces of legislation on the House agenda yesterday.

  Marut denied the charge.

  Under Constitution, although all executive decrees issued by the government
  have immediate effect, they must be presented to the House of
  Representatives. Even if the House rejects the decrees, any actions effected
  through the decrees will stand.

  The two decrees have generated a national debate because of what many
  believe to be vested interests and questionable circumstances in which the
  decrees were issued.

  Muanchon Party leader Chalerm Yoobamrung insisted that he wanted Anand and
  Wichian to explain to the House why the judicial reform should be carried
  out through the issuance of an executive decree because at the time of the
  debate Anand was still caretaker prime minister.

  MP Preecha Suwannathat (Democrat-Bangkok) defended Marut's decision, saying
  it was within the House speaker's authority to set agenda for the House as
  he saw fit.

  At this point, MP Samphan Lertnuwat (Chat Thai-Chiang Rai) registered his
  protest asking the House speaker to warn Preecha not to repeat himself in
  his speech. To which Marut responded: ``The way you [MPs] speak is all the
  same to me.''

  Samphan jumped to his feet and demanded that the House speaker retract his
  statement or he and his fellow opposition MPs would walk out of the assembly
  hall in protest.

  ``Okay. I retract my words,'' Marut said drawing a roar of laughter from the
  oppoisition lawmakers.

  The House yesterday decided that it would hold two weekly meetings on
  Wednesdays and Thursdays starting 1.30 pm after the government MPs defeated
  the opposition lawmakers with 188 against 126 in a voting called by Marut.
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