A much-anticipated parliamentary debate over Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s incomplete oath of office was underway Wednesday, but the man in question was making it clear he wasn’t happy with the proceedings.
As members of the opposition took turns criticizing Prayuth’s refusal to say he would defend the constitution – as required to hold his office by that same constitution – the public’s attention seized on the moment Prayuth walked out while a member of the opposition was speaking.
“Where did the prime minister go?” Thai Liberal Party MP Sereepisuth Temeeyaves asked around noon today after Prayuth pulled his disappearing act in the middle of debate about the oath he took in July.
Prayuth walked out while Gen. Sereepisuth, a former national police chief and vocal opposition critic, was blaming Prayuth’s oath omission on his ignorance of the law.
“Not only did you forget a whole sentence, you even added your own words to [the oath]. How can that not be wrong?” Sereepisuth said just before Prayuth got up and left.
เมื่อท่านเสรีขึ้นมาพูด แล้วนายกไม่อยู่ ป๊าถามหาว่าท่านนายกไปไหนแล้ว 5555555555555555555#ประชุมสภา #เสรีพิศุทธ์ #ประยุทธ์
pic.twitter.com/ZOdlEo9SUe— Aye’e_My👁_Happy (@AyeMy_Happy) September 18, 2019
The left-leaning Future Forward Party’s Piyabutr Saengkanokkul agreed the incomplete oath showed his lack of respect for the constitution and rule of law.
“[Prayuth] doesn’t view the constitution as the country’s highest law but merely as a tool for governing. He only uses it when it’s beneficial to him,” he said.
“I don’t want the new or old Prayuth Chan-o-cha. I don’t want Prayuth as the prime minister at all. In order to show political responsibility for the oath and to preserve the kingdom’s constitution…. In order to Thailand to have a graceful leader that citizens can be proud of like other nations, I’d like to ask for Prayuth to step down as prime minister.”
The head of the pro-establishment party that leads Prayuth’s coalition said the retired general’s leadership was unimpeachable.
“Prayuth is exemplary in his loyalty to the King,” Phalang Pracharath Party leader Paiboon Nititawan said. “No one else can compare.”
Prayuth later rejoined the session.
Last week, the Constitutional Court, which has authority over political matters, declined to take up the question of Prayuth’s apparent violation of the constitutionally mandated oath.
Any attempt to force a vote of no confidence in Prayuth’s government would face an uphill battle in parliament, where Prayuth’s shaky coalition commands a majority.
Certain aspects of this story could not be reported due to Thailand’s strict royal defamation law.
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