Deal struck to spare Prawit?
Chalerm Ubumrung, head of Pheu Thai’s special operations unit, has said his party will not grill Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon in the upcoming censure debate because there is no evidence linking him to alleged misconduct or wrongdoing.
Mr Chalerm has also denied that his opposition party had been lobbied to remove Gen Prawit from the censure list, but said his party would have no objections if other parties have fresh evidence and wished to grill the general.
However, he has warned them against questioning Gen Prawit over the luxury watch scandal, saying that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has cleared the general of concealing assets in the case. He has also warned that parties could face trouble if the NACC sues them for libel.
He went on to say that his panel had been set up to recommend who should be grilled to Pheu Thai leader Sompong Amornwiwat.
According to Mr Chalerm, his panel had initially named five ministers, not including Gen Prawit, for the no-confidence motion as it had enough information against them. The ministers on the censure list were Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, his deputies Wissanu Krea-ngam and Somkid Jatusripitak, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda and Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai.
According to a political source, it was speculated that a deal had been struck to spare Gen Prawit, who was seen a target owing to his luxury watch episode.
The source also intimated that keeping Gen Prawit off the censure list may have something to do with some Pheu Thai MPs raising their hand in parliament to support the government on key pieces of legislation.
The rumour that some members of the Pheu Thai faction may possibly be welcomed into the government’s fold comes at a time when the Democrat Party is allegedly causing headaches and risks being ejected from the coalition line-up.
Some Democrats had earlier refused to toe the coalition line and voted with the opposition on several occasions.
However, now that other opposition parties have formally announced that Gen Prawit will be included on the list of censure targets, talk about Pheu Thai factions being pulled into the government’s fold at the expense of the Democrats may not hold water.
Yesterday, the opposition named six cabinet ministers, including Gen Prawit, as censure targets when it submitted the noconfidence motion to the House.
The six are Gen Prayut, Gen Prawit, Mr Wissanu, Gen Anupong, Mr Don and Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow.
This motion has finally laid to rest wild speculation over exactly who will be censured, especially since the list of censure targets at one point named nine ministers.