BANGKOK: Thailand’s main opposition Pheu Thai party on Wednesday urged other parties that contested a March election to reject a coalition offer by a pro-army party seeking to keep the ruling junta chief as prime minister.
The appeal came as pro-junta Palang Pracharat’s bid to cement a coalition government faltered when at least two of its presumed allies — the pro-establishment Democrat Party and Chart Thai Pattana — expressed new reservations and conditions.
Negotiations are going on two months after the election, held nearly five years after the then-army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power from a Pheu Thai government in 2014, the second military coup in a decade.
Pheu Thai, which leads the seven-party Democratic Front alliance that has accused the junta of manipulating the election, seized on the two parties’ reluctance and urged unity against military dominance of government.
“It is not too late for any party to change their mind,” said Pheu Thai’s secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai.
No one party won a majority in the House of Representatives in the election, but Palang Pracharat has an advantage under junta-written electoral rules that require the 250-seat upper house Senate, appointed by the junta, to vote along with the 500-seat lower house for prime minister.
That effectively gives Palang Pracharat a 250-seat advantage in the race to the 376 votes — a majority of members of both houses of parliament — it needs for its bid to ensure Prayuth stays on as prime minister.
But in order to govern, a majority in the House of Representatives would be necessary.
Palang Pracharat would need to ally with almost all the non-aligned parties to get the 251 seats it needs in the lower house.
The Democrats — bitter opponents of Pheu Thai in the past — have said that amending the post-coup constitution would be a condition for joining any Palang Pracharat government, Democrat spokesman Rames Rattanachaweng said late on Tuesday.
And Chart Thai Pattana member Varawut Silpa-archa also said that Palang Pracharat has not yet agreed to his party’s unspecified conditions.
“What we proposed has not been answered,” Varawut said, adding, “If we are unable to join the Palang Pracharat coalition then we are ready to perform our legislative duty in parliament.”
Palang Pracharat’s leader Uttama Savanayana told reporters on Wednesday that his party was willing to wait for agreement.
“We are confident that we can still form a government but at this time we are talking about policies with other political parties as well as how to best use our personnel. At the end I believe a deal can be reached.”
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Thai opposition urges rejection of pro-junta coalition
Thai opposition urges rejection of pro-junta coalition
- Negotiations are going on two months after the election
- In order to govern, a majority in the House of Representatives would be necessary
Emails to Chinese dancers allegedly threatened Australian PM
SYDNEY: A security scare at the Australian prime minister’s residence this week was sparked by a bomb threat against an anti-Beijing Chinese dance troupe, the act’s hosts said Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
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