The Pheu Thai party has maintained that the House speaker must represent all people and should push for the implementation of the policies of the coalition government, not just one particular party.
The party’s statement, which was issued today (Friday) on the party’s Facebook page, was seen as a response to the statement yesterday by Move Forward deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakul that the party stands firm on its demand for the House speakership, because it wants to push its 45 draft bills through parliament.
Among these draft bills are a bill to amend the lèse majesté law, a bill to replace mandatory conscription with voluntary enlistment, a bill to dissolve the Internal Security Operations Command, eight bills relating to the rights and liberties of the people, eight bills on land reform, bills to revoke martial law and emergency decrees, an amnesty bill for political cases and a bill for decentralisation of administration.
The Pheu Thai statement refers to the memorandum of understanding (MoU), recently signed by the eight coalition parties, in which all the signatories agreed that the allocation of positions must be done in a fair manner.
PThe party cites the case in which it took both the prime minister’s post and the House speakership, because it won more than half of the seats in the House of Representatives.
This time, in the 500-seat House, the Move Forward party won only 151 seats.
“In this case, since we both won the election, we should work together with mutual trust as a coalition government. We should try to fulfill our mission for the public and in the optimum interest of the country,” said Pheu Thai in its statement.
The House speaker must perform their duty with impartiality and must support the agenda of both the government and the opposition without discrimination and in accordance with democratic and parliamentary systems.
