The House meeting to debate the falling prices of agricultural products on Thursday was brought to a premature end as a result of, what government legislators described as, a “political game” by Move Forward, the main opposition party.
It was the first meeting of Thailand’s current House of Representatives and it had to be adjourned due to a lack of a quorum, which sparked a fierce war of words between legislators on both sides of the aisle.
The House meeting was in the process of debating a motion addressing the plights of the agricultural sector, but Move Forward wanted the proposal for a referendum on constitutional amendment to be taken up instead.
After a heated back and forth, Move Forward asked for a quorum check, which found that most government MPs were absent, forcing House Speaker Wan Mohamad Noor Matha to order the meeting adjourned.
“It was a political game by a cry baby,” said Bhumjaithai Party MP Paradorn Prissananantakul, in the aftermath of the adjournment of the meeting, which saw the first open hostility between government and opposition.
In a press briefing afterwards, Paradorn was joined by other government MPs in lambasting Move Forward for the political fiasco.
One government MP described the incident as the “flexing of political muscle” by Move Forward, while another threatened retaliation, which could result in its future legislative agenda being blocked.
“We know that calling for a quorum check is the most effective political weapon for the opposition, but I didn’t expect it to be deployed at such an early stage of the House session,” said Adisorn Piengket, a veteran Pheu Thai MP, who warned Move Forward of potential political retaliation.
Paradorn accused Move Forward MPs of engaging in “gesture politics” and ignoring the plights of the agricultural sector.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, an outspoken Move Forward MP, hit back by accusing government MPs of hypocrisy. “They said they care about the people’s plights, but look at how many of them were (not) in the chamber,” he said, referring to the absence of most of the government’s MPs.
Move Forward MPs have tried to convince the House to prioritise the proposal for a referendum to amend the Constitution. They were unsuccessful during the House meeting on Wednesday and tried again on Thursday but were pre-empted by government MPs who argued that the motion on falling prices of agricultural products was more urgent.
Overhauling the Constitution was a major election campaign pledge by Move Forward.
