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Thai PM vows to rewrite charter to avoid legal woes
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who lost two ministers after tough court rulings, said on Sunday he would rewrite the army-designed constitution, a move likely to intensify street protests to oust him.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:08 July 14, 2008
Bangkok: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who lost two ministers after tough court rulings, said on Sunday he would rewrite the army-designed constitution, a move likely to intensify street protests to oust him.
The embattled premier, whose government is threatened by a series of lawsuits, also announced that he would reshuffle his cabinet and unveil an economic stimulus package tomorrow.
Samak blamed the current crisis on the 2007 constitution, designed by the coup makers who overthrew prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, which gives judges more oversight powers in the political arena.
"As Buddha says we must tackle sufferings at their causes, we have to amend this constitution that is causing this crisis," Samak, a devout Buddhist, said on his weekly TV show.
Any move to amend the charter could intensify a nearly two-month old street campaign, whose leaders accuse the government of seeking to protect Thaksin from corruption charges.
"It will only upset more people and invite them into the streets," Ramkham-haeng University analyst Boonyakiat Karavekphan said, referring to the street protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
More legal cases loom in the weeks and months ahead for Samak's People Power Party (PPP) and two other ruling parties, charged with vote-buying in a December poll.
Verdicts
If found guilty, they could be disbanded and their leaders barred from politics for five years, although the cases may take months to play out.
Two ministers and a top politician from the PPP, which leads the six-party coalition, quit or were banned from politics last week after verdicts from top judges, some of whom played key roles in drafting the 2007 charter.
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