Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has admitted, for the first time, that he did not recite the oath of office in full, as alleged by the Opposition, and is now trying to resolve the problem.
Asked how he will resolve the problem by a reporter today (Tuesday), the Prime Minister shot back, saying “Don’t you understand the word “trying to find a way out”?” adding that he would not make a clarification about the matter in parliament tomorrow, as demanded by the Opposition, because he has to visit the southern region.
He then asked the Opposition to wait and to be reasonable. “Trust me, I believe I can handle it and must do it” he said.
Earlier, he had said that the swearing-in issue was over and that he had recited “the essence” of the oath.
The seven-party Opposition has threatened to censure the Prime Minister if he refuses to explain the controversy in parliament. Pheu Thai party’ strategy chief Chaikasem Nitisiri said in his Facebook post on Monday that the Prime Minister’s omission of important words in the oath was unconstitutional, which could lead to the entire cabinet being invalidated.
He said he did not know whether the omission was intentional or unintentional, but he noted that it was a serious matter as it might be construed as a contempt of the Monarchy.
Personally, he said he thought it was the Prime Minister’s misstep, but he wondered why nobody in the cabinet protested.
The former attorney-general advised the Prime Minister to seek forgiveness from His Majesty the King and the cabinet to retake the oath.
