From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post Nov 18: Chuan wants to curb governor poll comments
Date: 18 Nov 1992 19:51:42 +1100
Organization: Mail/News gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: munnari.oz.au


PRIME Minister Chuan Leekpai has urged Cabinet members to observe 
political etiquette as coalition partners and stop commenting in 
public on the controversial provincial governor election issue, 
reliable Cabinet sources said yesterday.
 
The Premier's request came at the Cabinet meeting yesterday in the 
wake of Palang Dharma Party's call on the coalition parties to 
come together and settle the Government's position on the issue.
 
Government spokesman Abhisit Vejjajiva later told a press 
conference that the Prime Minister wanted all coalition partners 
to wait for the findings of an Interior Ministry-appointed 
committee which is studying the matter.
 
The findings of the committee would be discussed in the Cabinet so 
that a joint stand can be reached, he said.
 
Deputy Interior Minister Chamni Sakdiset, a Palang Dharma MP who 
was elected from Nakhon Si Thammarat, called on the coalition 
parties to adopt a joint position on his party's proposal to have 
elected provincial governors.
 
His statement was in response to Mr Chuan's comments Monday that 
it may take the Government five years to prepare the country for 
such a change.
 
Mr Chamni told reporters the coalition parties should seriously 
discuss the matter and make it a priority issue.
 
"We can't go on saying that we can't include the issue as the 
coalition's policy because we are a coalition government," said Mr 
Chamni.
 
He said each coalition partner has given separate interviews on 
the issue and "it's time we got together to settle the problem 
since we have been commenting on it for a long time now without 
taking any concrete steps, except the panel appointed by the 
Interior Ministry to study the matter."
 
For PDP, he added, it was an important issue and once a consensus 
is reached on the matter it will enhance the Government's unity.
 
On Deputy Prime Minister Banyat Bantadtan's comment that coalition 
partners must compromise on their party's policies, Mr Chamni said 
he agreed that each party was bound to comply with the agreed 
coalition's policy.
 
He said he understood well the nature of a coalition government 
and that it was not possible to impose an individual party's 
policy on its partners.
 
But he added that the working process can be decided, consulted 
and reviewed periodically and not be fixed by the policy statement 
in Parliament alone.
 
Deputy Prime Minister Boonchu Rojanasatien confirmed that the 
gubernatorial election bill proposed by the Palang Dharma had 
nothing to do with the Government.
 
He said it's a promise the party made during its election 
campaign. And therefore, it feels obligated to honour its pledge.
 
The Deputy Prime Minister insisted there was no conflict in the 
five-party coalition and what the PDP had proposed needed closer 
consultation among its partners.
 
When asked why the PDP didn't consult its coalition partners 
before making it an issue, Mr Boonchu hit back by saying why 
should the PDP consult others when it had a commitment to fulfil.
 
"We tried to champion an idea. Whether it will succeed depends on 
the coalition government," he said.
 
Meanwhile, Deputy House Speaker Thawil Praison (PDP) said 
yesterday his party's draft bill calling for elected provincial 
governors will be completed soon and submitted to the party by 
Friday.
 
Mr Thawil, who is drafting the bill, said when it is submitted to 
the coalition's parliamentary coordinating committee he will 
attend its meeting to explain and clarify the points in the bill.
 
The committee's decision on the issue would be final but it should 
be able to explain why certain provinces don't qualify for 
governor election and specify the criteria for readiness of 
others, the Deputy House Speaker said.
 
If the Government decides not to allow provinces like Phuket -- 
considered one of the most suitable provinces to start with -- to 
have an elected governor, then it should expand the existing 
municipality to cover the entire province.
 
Its mayor should also be directly elected and the power of the 
provincial governor should be reduced to a minimum, he said. Such 
an arrangement would be a compromise acceptable to him, the Deputy 
House Speaker said.
 
Mr Thawil said the findings of the Interior-appointed committee 
could be valuable in the decision-making but the Government does 
not have to accept it as a basis for all its decisions on the 
issue.
 
The PDP MP also denied an accusation by Deputy Interior Minister 
Suthas Ngernmuen, a Democrat, that in pushing for the bill Palang 
Dharma was showing total disregarded for political etiquette as a 
coalition partner.
 
He said it is the duty of MPs to make laws and that other 
coalition partners, including the Democrat and New Aspiration 
parties, have proposed bills to Parliament without bringing them 
to the attention of the coordinating committee.
 
The NAP-sponsored Islamic bill, for example, was forwarded to 
Parliament without debate by government whips, he added.