7 August 2012: House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont was criticized by the opposition Democrat Party for changing the House agenda. The speaker had ruled that the debate on an aborted NASA weather research mission should be cancelled. ‘Parliament has the obligation to debate issues of national importance,’ said a Democrat MP ‘and since this matter was referred to Parliament by Cabinet, the Speaker has no right to cancel the debate.’
The SEAC4RS mission had sought permission to use U-taphao airport as the base for climate research operations which had to take place in August and September. Numerous criticisms, many from the Democrat Party, included unsubstantiated claims that the project was a foil for secret military operations, that this cooperation with the US would jeopardize relations with China and Vietnam, and that the project was a quid pro quo for granting a US visa to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Also, Section 190 of the Constitution requires parliamentary approval for any international agreement that has an extensive impact on the economy or national security. While most legal opinion believed that the proposed project was not of sufficient scope or duration to qualify under Section 190, previous interpretations by the Constitutional Court did not provide a strong precedent.
In the face of this storm of protest, the Cabinet decided in June that it had no authority to approve the agreement. Even though the US had set 26 June as a deadline for a decision, the government chose to refer the matter to Parliament for a decision when it reconvened in August. This had provoked protests of a different kind, alleging inefficiency, incompetence and foot-dragging.
With no government approval in time to carry out the project, the US announced cancellation of the project at the end of June. So when the matter came to the House, the Speaker decided the issue was moot, having been overtaken by events, and removed it from the agenda.
This provoked outrage from Democrats, who accused the speaker of censorship, stifling debate and violating the right to freedom of expression.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
8 August 2012: House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont was roundly criticized by Democrat MPs today for restoring the cancelled NASA mission to the House agenda. ‘This project is dead and buried,’ said a Party spokesperson. ‘Due to government incompetence, Thailand lost the opportunity to benefit from this project when their flagrant inefficiency forced cancellation of the project in June.’
There was no need to waste Parliament’s valuable time discussing an issue that is already history, said the spokesperson. This was indicative of pervasive government incompetence, he said.
A frustrated House Speaker complained that the opposition was trying to have it both ways. ‘Whether I schedule a debate or not, they criticize me,’ he told reporters. ‘I just can’t win.’
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
9 August 2012: The Democrat Party today launched a motion to impeach House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont for his comments yesterday criticizing their party. ‘The speaker has displayed his obvious unsuitability for his post,’ said a spokesperson. ‘He is required to remain neutral and not to take sides. What he said yesterday amounted to gross defamation of the opposition while saying nothing about the government incompetence which started the whole thing.’
The Speaker promptly suspended himself from further duties and entrusted the chairing of future debates to his deputies.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
10 August 2012. Democrat MPs castigated Somsak Kiatsuranont for failing to perform his duties as Speaker after he voluntarily suspended himself while awaiting impeachment by the Democrats.
‘He was elected by the House to serve as Speaker. He has no business running away and hiding like this. This is gross dereliction of duty,’ said a statement from Democrat Party Headquarters.
It was reported that the Speaker was admitted into hospital, suffering from stress.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
13 August 2012. A Democrat Party spokesperson today berated the Speaker for failing to schedule House sessions over the weekend. When asked what urgent matters required extraordinary sessions, he was unable to give an answer.
‘That is not the point,’ he said. ‘By not having sessions over the weekend, we have been deprived of any opportunity to criticize the Speaker for 2 entire days while he lounges in an ICU ward at the taxpayers’ expense.
‘It is Democrat Party policy to complain about everything that everyone else does, all the time. This is what the voters want and this is what we deliver. But we cannot do this if everything stops for the weekend.’
The Democrats were reportedly mulling a bill to cancel weekends in the hope that this would improve their chances at the next election.
