Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai complained today that the significance of MoU44 between Thailand and Cambodia has been blown out of all proportion.
Despite the harsh criticism of the document, he said the government continues to patiently explain that it has nothing to do with Thailand’s sovereignty over Kut Island, as claimed by detractors, if the two countries negotiate over the development of oil and gas reserves in the overlapping claim areas under the framework of MoU44.
He insisted that MoU44 has not been implemented yet, pending negotiations between the two countries, adding that both the public and parliament will have to give their consent and that there are international laws with which both parties must comply.
(For clarity: It should be noted that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a non-binding agreement between parties which outlines a shared understanding of how they will work together to achieve a common goal. It is not, nor is it intended to be a legally binding and enforceable contract – Harvard).
Asked whether the government will survive the next 12 months, Phumtham shot back, saying that the government has been in office for less than a year and is already being found at fault.
He said that the government should not be pre-judged with and should be treated with fairness, adding that, if Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is forced out of office, like her predecessor Srettha Thavisin, the Pheu Thai party still has a third candidate or a candidate from the second largest coalition party to fill the void.
Phumtham said he would like to see the government and parliament function properly, without complications being generated through non-democratic means.
Commenting on the role of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the deputy prime minister said that the close relationship between Thaksin and the Pheu Thai party cannot be denied, given the fact that Thaksin is the founder of the party (and father of the current prime minister).
Thaksin, he said, can play any role in politics that is not prohibited by law, adding that there are both pros and cons regarding Thaksin’s role, which is not abnormal.
