Thailand boosters may have hoped the World
Economic Forum on East Asia now under way in Bangkok would be a chance for the
country to put its best face forward after years of political unrest and last
year’s devastating floods.
Instead,
visitors on Thursday were confronted with news of a bizarre scuffle in
Parliament that only served to remind people of how far Thailand has to go to
resolve its deep political divisions.
The
ruckus, which started on Wednesday and recurred on Thursday, involved members
of the Thai Parliament who were arguing over reconciliation bills that could
lead to the return of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was
ousted in a 2006 coup. At the height of the scuffle on Wednesday, opposition
lawmakers swarmed around the House speaker amid loud shouts from the floor. One
female lawmaker later whisked away his empty chair, followed by a mad scramble
to retrieve it. Videos of the tension drew tens of thousands of viewers.
It was
hardly good public relations for Thailand. The front page of Thursday’s Bangkok
Post showed a photo of members of the opposition Democrat party and others
surrounding House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont as police tried to maintain order
and members of the ruling Pheu Thai party rushed to Mr. Somsak’s defense. “MPs
brawl in unity bill chaos,” the headline said.
The
Nation newspaper called it “the worst chaos in the history of Thai Parliament.”
Wednesday’s
tussle began after several hours of impassioned debate, when Mr. Somsak tried
to call a vote to put the reconciliation bills on the top of the legislative
agenda despite ongoing opposition protests, according to the Bangkok Post. Pheu
Thai says the bills, which would give amnesty to political factions involved in
upheavals that have gripped the country in recent years, are necessary for
national reconciliation and unity.
Democrats
claimed Mr. Somsak was attempting to force through the legislation merely for
the benefit of Mr. Thaksin, who currently lives overseas in exile after a 2008
corruption conviction that he says was politically motivated. The Nation reported
that some Democrats started “miming the Nazi salute.” Order was eventually
restored, though a vote did not occur.
The
madness continued on Thursday, when Mr. Somsak, the House speaker, asked the
House of Representatives to vote on whether to put the reconciliation bill up
for urgent consideration. After the majority voted “yes,” Democrat members
swarmed again to the speaker’s bench, booing and shouting. Then, a Democrat MP
threw a book at the house speaker’s head. Mr. Somsak rushed to close the session
and said the meeting to consider the reconciliation draft would adjourn until
the next morning.
Meanwhile,
thousands of members of the anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy, a
royalist group also known as the Yellow Shirts, took to the streets on Wednesday
to protest the bills. The group argues that the legislation is designed to
whitewash the crimes they say Mr. Thaksin—whose younger sister now is the prime
minister—committed while in power and provide him with political amnesty. Their
demonstrations are set to continue.
Newley
Purnell
Business & Investment Opportunities
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