Dep Minister of Finance Pradit Phataraprasit to lead an Open Forum on Wed 10th Feb to solicit direct input from private sector on how government can help them operate more competitively in the region
Deputy Minister of Finance Pradit Phataraprasit, today, (Wednesday 3 February) announced that the government is formulating plans to boost tax and non-tax benefits to companies that locate their regional operating headquarters in Thailand.
“We aim to reinforce Thailand’s position in the region as an important manufacturing and services hub,” said Deputy Finance Minister Pradit who chairs a committee charged with developing a set of recommendations that can make Thailand a more attractive location for the regional operating headquarters of companies.
He said, “The establishment of a regional headquarters in Thailand by giant foreign companies can generate enormous benefits for our country and accelerate economic growth. It results in the location in Thailand of many high-salaried expatriate managers; it means more demand for housing, more shopping and other spending, and more business for hotels and restaurants with a greater number of international events being organized in Thailand. It also means that Thai staff have more opportunity to become regional managers with much higher salaries and responsibilities.”
Mr. Pradit said that he is organizing an Open Forum meeting on Wednesday 10th February at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center for the private sector to give direct input to him on how they believe Thailand could become more attractive as a regional operating headquarters for their companies.
“I want this to be a collaborative effort that gets the best ideas on the table, and to weed out what isn’t important to the private sector,” said Mr. Pradit.
He said that, “multiple government agencies are working together and all key people responsible for developing and submitting these recommendations for Cabinet approval will be present at the session to listen to the views of the private sector, including the Board of Investment, the Bank of Thailand, the Revenue Department, the Fiscal Policy Office, as well as the Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, in addition to himself and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.”
HOW TO REGISTER TO ATTEND
Attendance is free. To book a place, please email or fax representatives’ Name, Title, and Company to ROHforum@gmail.com , or fax: 02-664 9515, Attention: Khun Pairoj. Reservations should be made no later than Monday 8th February. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Presentations will be in English and Thai.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Parliament's Communications & Telecommunication Committee to settle call problems between Hutch and TrueMove customers
Almost two months after many Hutch customers lodged a complaint for not being able to make a call to TrueMove numbers, no conclusion has yet been reached despite the negotiations on IC. This problem caused more troubles to many consumers as they are not able to get access in their communication activities.
Many Hutch customers used Pantip websites have submitted complaint letters to the Communications & Telecommunication Committee of the Parliament to resolve the problem since those submitted to the Telecommunication Consumer Protection Institute under National Telecommunication Committee (NTC) showed no sign of progress.
Mr. Romran Thong-in, a member of the sub-committee, has called representatives from CAT, Hutch and TrueMove to clarify the problem two weeks ago. According to representatives from CAT, negotiations have failed after it has been alerted since the problem started. The Sub-committee assigned CAT, the owner of CDMA network and the one authorized to negotiate with TrueMove again, to come back to give a progress report to the committee within 15 days.
The committee has accepted this problem as special case because it caused damages to social relationships and business of consumers. Service providers have not yet reached a final conclusion on IC rate because the 1 baht per 1 minute rate proposed by giant operators was too high while call promotional offers in the market is about 0.50 baht. This follows the study of TDRI researcher which stated that such rate was not correct and fair.
However, while negotiation on IC is ongoing, customers of Hutch and TrueMove should not be effected.
Many Hutch customers used Pantip websites have submitted complaint letters to the Communications & Telecommunication Committee of the Parliament to resolve the problem since those submitted to the Telecommunication Consumer Protection Institute under National Telecommunication Committee (NTC) showed no sign of progress.
Mr. Romran Thong-in, a member of the sub-committee, has called representatives from CAT, Hutch and TrueMove to clarify the problem two weeks ago. According to representatives from CAT, negotiations have failed after it has been alerted since the problem started. The Sub-committee assigned CAT, the owner of CDMA network and the one authorized to negotiate with TrueMove again, to come back to give a progress report to the committee within 15 days.
The committee has accepted this problem as special case because it caused damages to social relationships and business of consumers. Service providers have not yet reached a final conclusion on IC rate because the 1 baht per 1 minute rate proposed by giant operators was too high while call promotional offers in the market is about 0.50 baht. This follows the study of TDRI researcher which stated that such rate was not correct and fair.
However, while negotiation on IC is ongoing, customers of Hutch and TrueMove should not be effected.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Hawaii's Proactive Budget Management Techniques And Healthy Reserves Support Its 'AA' GO Rating, S&P Report Says
Hawaii's 'AA' general obligation (GO) bond rating reflects our view of management's well-established budget monitoring practices and strong reserve levels, according to a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.
"We believe that Hawaii's proactive budget management techniques will result in manageable out-year gaps that state officials will successfully resolve without a significant impact to reserve designations," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Paul Dyson. "Moreover, in our opinion, the state's level of reserves provides us with credit comfort at the current rating level."
Fiscal 2008 combined reserves, including carry-over and various funds, totaled $590 million, or 11% of expenditures; according to state estimates, combined reserves will decline to $208 million, or 3.9% of expenditures, in fiscal 2009, below the $253 million, or 4.9% of expenditures, forecasted in May 2009. Officials believe various corrective actions including expenditure cuts and revenue enhancements for fiscals 2010 and 2011 should produce ending combined reserve balances closer to 5%-6% of expenditures; however, without such measures, combined reserves could fall to 2%-3% during fiscals 2010 and 2011, and negative by fiscal 2012.
The state constitution requires that the governor and legislature begin to provide tax refunds or credits if the general fund balance exceeds 5% of expenditures for two consecutive years; however, it does not require that refunds or credits immediately lower fund balances to the 5% target, permitting the legislature to retain balances above these levels in recent years. The legislature has faced the situation in the past several fiscal years, which has led to increased appropriation of existing carry-over fund balances for one-time and recurring use. We believe the likely result will be a decrease in the current budgeted and GAAP general fund balance relative to fiscals 2006 through 2008, with an increase most likely dependent on a faster or more robust economic recovery. In our opinion, further significant expenditure reductions will be difficult, but we also recognize that the state and governor have been willing to make them in the past.
After sustained economic expansion between 2003 and 2007, when many sectors performed at record levels, Hawaii's (population 1.3 million) economic trends decelerated and, in many cases, turned negative in 2008 and 2009. However, unlike many markets, the Hawaii housing market experienced only a moderate housing decline: Median home prices as of July 2009 were down just 10% from 2006 levels and only 2.3% of loans went into foreclosure over the last 18 months, ranking it eighth best in the nation. Hawaii's nominal personal income is more stable, and actually increased more than the U.S.' in both 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The state's median household income was what we consider a strong 121% of the national average as of 2008.
The report is available to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal subscribers at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-7280 or sending an e-mail to research_request@standardandpoors.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
"We believe that Hawaii's proactive budget management techniques will result in manageable out-year gaps that state officials will successfully resolve without a significant impact to reserve designations," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Paul Dyson. "Moreover, in our opinion, the state's level of reserves provides us with credit comfort at the current rating level."
Fiscal 2008 combined reserves, including carry-over and various funds, totaled $590 million, or 11% of expenditures; according to state estimates, combined reserves will decline to $208 million, or 3.9% of expenditures, in fiscal 2009, below the $253 million, or 4.9% of expenditures, forecasted in May 2009. Officials believe various corrective actions including expenditure cuts and revenue enhancements for fiscals 2010 and 2011 should produce ending combined reserve balances closer to 5%-6% of expenditures; however, without such measures, combined reserves could fall to 2%-3% during fiscals 2010 and 2011, and negative by fiscal 2012.
The state constitution requires that the governor and legislature begin to provide tax refunds or credits if the general fund balance exceeds 5% of expenditures for two consecutive years; however, it does not require that refunds or credits immediately lower fund balances to the 5% target, permitting the legislature to retain balances above these levels in recent years. The legislature has faced the situation in the past several fiscal years, which has led to increased appropriation of existing carry-over fund balances for one-time and recurring use. We believe the likely result will be a decrease in the current budgeted and GAAP general fund balance relative to fiscals 2006 through 2008, with an increase most likely dependent on a faster or more robust economic recovery. In our opinion, further significant expenditure reductions will be difficult, but we also recognize that the state and governor have been willing to make them in the past.
After sustained economic expansion between 2003 and 2007, when many sectors performed at record levels, Hawaii's (population 1.3 million) economic trends decelerated and, in many cases, turned negative in 2008 and 2009. However, unlike many markets, the Hawaii housing market experienced only a moderate housing decline: Median home prices as of July 2009 were down just 10% from 2006 levels and only 2.3% of loans went into foreclosure over the last 18 months, ranking it eighth best in the nation. Hawaii's nominal personal income is more stable, and actually increased more than the U.S.' in both 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The state's median household income was what we consider a strong 121% of the national average as of 2008.
The report is available to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal subscribers at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-7280 or sending an e-mail to research_request@standardandpoors.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Mahathir (Part 1)
Discover the life of Mahathir Mohamad, one of Southeast Asia’s most outspoken and controversial leaders. As Prime Minister for 22 years, he modernises Malaysia. The world’s tallest twin towers is one of his projects.
Part 1 explores Mahathir’s early years, from the Second World War and his life under Japanese occupation, to his emerging political activism protesting British colonialism. We look at his medical school days, where Mahathir meets the woman of his dreams, and his days in private practice in a small rural town.
In 1964, Mahathir is first elected to Parliament, and quickly earns a reputation as an exceptional debater and fierce advocate of Malay rights. However, his meteoric political rise is abruptly cut short in 1969 when he loses his seat and writes a letter that expels him from his political party UMNO. Eventually, Mahathir eventually makes a comeback and later becomes Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister.
Part 1 explores Mahathir’s early years, from the Second World War and his life under Japanese occupation, to his emerging political activism protesting British colonialism. We look at his medical school days, where Mahathir meets the woman of his dreams, and his days in private practice in a small rural town.
In 1964, Mahathir is first elected to Parliament, and quickly earns a reputation as an exceptional debater and fierce advocate of Malay rights. However, his meteoric political rise is abruptly cut short in 1969 when he loses his seat and writes a letter that expels him from his political party UMNO. Eventually, Mahathir eventually makes a comeback and later becomes Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
IT'S TIME TO TURN ON OTHER GROWTH ENGINES
Surprisingly, after the Congress accepted the bill, the price of shares started to fall at a greater pace everyday instead of recovering as happened on September 19, the day the Paulson proposal was announced. Why? Because, it was about confidence, which is always sensitive with any change, even a minute one. On September 19, the firm announcement by Paulson and the very strong support of President Bush created confidence that this proposal would be approved swiftly, the size of the bail-out fund would be big enough, and it would be implemented with enough flexibility as proposed by Paulson. It was the size of the fund, the potential speed of approval and the flexibility in its implementation that convinced the public that distressed assets would be taken out of the financial institutions promptly and their financial positions would strengthen soon, ending up in a massive purchase of shares of financial institutions, which brought up their prices. But after over one week, the Congress rejected the bill, confidence shattered a bit even though it was finally approved after two weeks, because during this period of time, financial institutions in the US that needed help from this bail-out plan got weaker very fast, making investors speculate that the size of distressed assets to be tackled would be bigger than the bail-out fund.
Besides, some financial institutions in Europe collapsed and needed to be taken over by another financial institution. Worse is that the Congress set conditions limiting the utilisation of the bail-out fund into phases, allowing only US$250 billion in the first tranche. This condition had a negative impact psychologically. The limited amount of the first tranche would speed up sale of distressed assets as sellers are not fully confident about the availability of the next tranche. Should the total US$700 billion be allowed to be implemented freely, financial institutions would not rush to sell as they would feel that the whole amount is still available, which would not put too much pressure on the price of distressed assets.
Moreover, the recent behaviour of the Congress indicated to the public that if this $700-billion fund were not enough, there would be no hope for additional amount. This created fear that the amount of distressed assets beyond $700 billion would be left to undermine the strength of certain financial institutions. Besides, the Congress did set some conditions in the implementation of the fund, which makes it less flexible and thus creates fear that certain distressed assets may not be accepted by the buyer and the implementation may not be fast enough to save the financial institutions. Consequently, the perception of the plan as approved by the Congress is much different from that announced by Paulson on September 19. With the plan as approved, the public believed that financial institutions without excessive distressed assets could manage to sell them down and survive smoothly, but those with too much distressed assets may have to increase capital to compensate for some additional losses. Definitely, the plan as approved could not create confidence that all distressed assets would be taken out and that all financial institutions would recover to perform their normal duty of extending credit to the private sector soon.
It could be said that even if this bail-out plan as approved by the Congress could limit the damage of the financial institutions, it would not strengthen all financial institutions enough to support the recovery of real sector for another long while. At the same time, the major increase of oil price in the first half of the year still has a second round effect on inflation in the second half and thereby slows down private expenditure. Moreover, higher unemployment, caused by the slump of housing construction and by the rationalisation of work process of various industries to reduce cost, has affected private consumption. The reduced consumption leads to the reduction of sale and production. The prices of shares in the real sector are inevitably decreasing.
Unfortunate developments in the US have affected the whole world, in the financial sector as well as the stock exchange and international trade. The bail-out plan approved did save the financial institutions from weakening further and prevented contagion into other countries, especially those in Asia where investments in US mortgage-backed securities were very limited. But the effect on the stock exchange is inevitable since foreign investing institutions had to sell down their investments overseas to bring money back to support the liquidity and financial strength of their parent companies in the US and Europe. Besides, the reduction of spending by buyers in the US, in Europe (which experience similar consequences from sizeable investment in mortgage-backed securities and big surge in oil price) and in Japan (which has been affected by big surge in oil price and inflation) will definitely reduce exports of various countries in Asia, including Thailand. We have to be prepared for the slowdown of export and must try to speed up other growth engines instead, be it government investment, private investment, or domestic consumption. Leadership and efforts of the government in the right direction are now very much needed.
Besides, some financial institutions in Europe collapsed and needed to be taken over by another financial institution. Worse is that the Congress set conditions limiting the utilisation of the bail-out fund into phases, allowing only US$250 billion in the first tranche. This condition had a negative impact psychologically. The limited amount of the first tranche would speed up sale of distressed assets as sellers are not fully confident about the availability of the next tranche. Should the total US$700 billion be allowed to be implemented freely, financial institutions would not rush to sell as they would feel that the whole amount is still available, which would not put too much pressure on the price of distressed assets.
Moreover, the recent behaviour of the Congress indicated to the public that if this $700-billion fund were not enough, there would be no hope for additional amount. This created fear that the amount of distressed assets beyond $700 billion would be left to undermine the strength of certain financial institutions. Besides, the Congress did set some conditions in the implementation of the fund, which makes it less flexible and thus creates fear that certain distressed assets may not be accepted by the buyer and the implementation may not be fast enough to save the financial institutions. Consequently, the perception of the plan as approved by the Congress is much different from that announced by Paulson on September 19. With the plan as approved, the public believed that financial institutions without excessive distressed assets could manage to sell them down and survive smoothly, but those with too much distressed assets may have to increase capital to compensate for some additional losses. Definitely, the plan as approved could not create confidence that all distressed assets would be taken out and that all financial institutions would recover to perform their normal duty of extending credit to the private sector soon.
It could be said that even if this bail-out plan as approved by the Congress could limit the damage of the financial institutions, it would not strengthen all financial institutions enough to support the recovery of real sector for another long while. At the same time, the major increase of oil price in the first half of the year still has a second round effect on inflation in the second half and thereby slows down private expenditure. Moreover, higher unemployment, caused by the slump of housing construction and by the rationalisation of work process of various industries to reduce cost, has affected private consumption. The reduced consumption leads to the reduction of sale and production. The prices of shares in the real sector are inevitably decreasing.
Unfortunate developments in the US have affected the whole world, in the financial sector as well as the stock exchange and international trade. The bail-out plan approved did save the financial institutions from weakening further and prevented contagion into other countries, especially those in Asia where investments in US mortgage-backed securities were very limited. But the effect on the stock exchange is inevitable since foreign investing institutions had to sell down their investments overseas to bring money back to support the liquidity and financial strength of their parent companies in the US and Europe. Besides, the reduction of spending by buyers in the US, in Europe (which experience similar consequences from sizeable investment in mortgage-backed securities and big surge in oil price) and in Japan (which has been affected by big surge in oil price and inflation) will definitely reduce exports of various countries in Asia, including Thailand. We have to be prepared for the slowdown of export and must try to speed up other growth engines instead, be it government investment, private investment, or domestic consumption. Leadership and efforts of the government in the right direction are now very much needed.
Magnificent seven
In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
DEMOCRATS HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS ON CHARTER CHANGE
The Democrat Party will review its stance over amending the Constitution after the move met with resistance from some lawmakers who threatened to launch impeachment proceedings against those who initiate alterations to the charter.
Democrat Party spokesman Thepthai Senpong said the party has a clear stance to amend the charter on provisions resolved by the Reconciliation committee for Constitution Amendment and joint committees of whips. The party will also push for a public referendum. It will follow the wishes of the people in the matter.
He also denied that the party had resolved to let members vote freely whether to amend the Constitution. The party will call a meeting tomorrow to decide the details of the Constitution amendment.
Suphan Buri Senator Prasit Phothasuthon, who has been campaigning for charter amendment, said he had a list of 30-40 senators who support the amendment and he would submit the petition to House Speaker Chai Chidchob next week. He said his group supported the move to amend six articles of the Constitution in one draft but if the public referendum showed opposition to the move, they would drop the petition.
New Politics Party spokesman Samran Rodpet said the party believed the crisis facing the country could not be healed by amending six articles of the Constitution because the political divisions facing the country ran deep at grass root and the country's high institutions. If the Constitution is finally amended, the country will see even greater division. Rival political parties also play politics by seeking political advantage from the move rather than thinking of public interest. The party will team up with the People's Alliance for Democracy to oppose any constitutional amendment.
Secretary-general of the New Politics Party, Suriyasai Katasila, said the Democrat Party has not had a clear stance over the amendment. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva first had high ambitions on the issue, wanting to have a Constitution Drafting Assembly but then settled for a charter amendment committee and now public referendum. At the same time the Pheu Thai Party had a clear stance about wanting the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution, which is impossible unless the party successfully called for a military coup to do that.
"If the government adamantly pushes for charter amendment, we will seek impeachment proceedings against MPs and those involved or call for public rallies against the move,'' Suriyasai said.
Democrat Party spokesman Thepthai Senpong said the party has a clear stance to amend the charter on provisions resolved by the Reconciliation committee for Constitution Amendment and joint committees of whips. The party will also push for a public referendum. It will follow the wishes of the people in the matter.
He also denied that the party had resolved to let members vote freely whether to amend the Constitution. The party will call a meeting tomorrow to decide the details of the Constitution amendment.
Suphan Buri Senator Prasit Phothasuthon, who has been campaigning for charter amendment, said he had a list of 30-40 senators who support the amendment and he would submit the petition to House Speaker Chai Chidchob next week. He said his group supported the move to amend six articles of the Constitution in one draft but if the public referendum showed opposition to the move, they would drop the petition.
New Politics Party spokesman Samran Rodpet said the party believed the crisis facing the country could not be healed by amending six articles of the Constitution because the political divisions facing the country ran deep at grass root and the country's high institutions. If the Constitution is finally amended, the country will see even greater division. Rival political parties also play politics by seeking political advantage from the move rather than thinking of public interest. The party will team up with the People's Alliance for Democracy to oppose any constitutional amendment.
Secretary-general of the New Politics Party, Suriyasai Katasila, said the Democrat Party has not had a clear stance over the amendment. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva first had high ambitions on the issue, wanting to have a Constitution Drafting Assembly but then settled for a charter amendment committee and now public referendum. At the same time the Pheu Thai Party had a clear stance about wanting the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution, which is impossible unless the party successfully called for a military coup to do that.
"If the government adamantly pushes for charter amendment, we will seek impeachment proceedings against MPs and those involved or call for public rallies against the move,'' Suriyasai said.
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