BANGKOK: The liberal frontrunner to become Thailand’s next prime minister said Saturday he would withdraw his candidacy if parliament did not endorse him next week, after military-appointed lawmakers foiled his first attempt.
Pita Limjaroenrat’s Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May elections, buoyed by young Thais eager for progressive reforms after nine years of army-backed rule in the kingdom.
But the Harvard-educated millionaire’s campaign to lead the next government was knocked back Thursday by senators in parliament who consider his pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws a red line.
The legislature holds its second ballot for a new prime minister on Wednesday, and Pita said he would support a candidate from coalition partner Pheu Thai if he again failed to win the needed votes.
“I’d like to apologize that we haven’t succeeded,” he said in a video address posted to social media.
“I’m ready to give a chance to Thailand by letting the party that has the second most votes... be the one to form the coalition.”
Pita was 51 votes short of the 375 lawmakers he needed to support his candidacy during the first ballot.
Just 13 senators voted for him, with many voicing their opposition to MFP’s pledge to soften the kingdom’s royal defamation laws.
After the first ballot, the party ruled out compromising on its proposed revisions to the laws, which currently allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be jailed for up to 15 years.
All 250 senators were appointed under the junta-drafted constitution, which political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said was a reliable impediment to MFP’s reformist platform.
“It is a way for the authority and the regime to stay in power in the long term and to prevent a pro-democracy government that can stand against them,” he told AFP on Friday.
Pita urged his supporters on Saturday to get “creative” in urging senators to throw their support behind him in the next round.
“I alone can’t change the senators’ mind. Therefore, I ask everybody to help with this mission,” he said.
“Send a message to the senators in every way possible, every way you can think of.”
The MFP’s largest coalition partner Pheu Thai is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political family, whose members include two former prime ministers displaced by military coups in 2006 and 2014.
Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, 60, is widely tipped to be Pheu Thai’s candidate for prime minister if Pita’s bid fails again.
Liked by business leaders among Thailand’s influential elite, he has been touted as a potential compromise candidate.
Pita rode a wave of support that saw voters emphatically reject almost a decade of army-backed rule under Prayut Chan-o-cha, who took power in the 2014 coup.
But the MFP’s reformist agenda has drawn strident objections from conservative supporters of the country’s establishment.
Thursday’s vote on Pita’s candidacy came just a day after Thailand’s top election body recommended the Constitutional Court suspend Pita as an MP — providing more fuel for senators already poised to vote against him.
The electoral commission recommended Pita’s suspension from parliament over allegations he broke campaign rules.
The recommendation followed a probe into Pita’s ownership of shares in a media company, which MPs are prohibited from holding under Thai law.
The station has not broadcast since 2007, and Pita has said the shares were inherited from his father.
The Constitutional Court has also agreed to hear a case alleging that the MFP’s position on royal defamation laws is tantamount to a plan to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy.
Thai PM frontrunner says only one more shot at forming government
https://arab.news/4v4eh
Thai PM frontrunner says only one more shot at forming government
- Pita Limjaroenrat’s Move Forward Party won the most seats in May elections
- Harvard-educated millionaire’s campaign to lead the next government was knocked back Thursday
Greece to bring in Egyptian farm workers amid labor shortage
- Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt
After a decade of pain, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3 percent this year, far outpacing the euro zone average of 0.8 percent.
But an exodus of workers during Greece’s economic crisis, a shrinking population and strict migration rules have left the country struggling to find tens of thousands of workers to fill vacancies in farming, tourism, construction and other sectors.
Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt.
The countries have discussed expanding the “mutually beneficial” scheme to the Greek construction and tourism sectors, the Greek Migration Ministry said in a statement.
Migration has long been a divisive issue in Europe, but the plan had won broad support from employers groups keen to find workers.
Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis met Egyptian Labour Minister Hassan Shehata in Cairo this week and said the countries should also step up cooperation to fend off illegal migration flows in the region.
Egyptian officials have said their country deserves recognition for largely stopping migrants setting off from its northern coast across the Mediterranean to Europe since 2016.
The European Union this year announced a multi-billion euro funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt, part of a push to cut down on the number of migrants crossing over from North Africa.
Rights groups have criticized Western support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who came to power a decade ago after leading the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
India says Canada has shared no evidence of its involvement in killing of Sikh separatist leader
- Three Indian nationals who had been temporarily living in Canada were arrested on Tuesday in the June slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
- PM Trudeau set off a diplomatic spat with India in Sept. when he cited ‘credible allegations’ of India’s involvement in the Sikh’s murder
NEW DELHI: India said Thursday that Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime.
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal also reiterated India’s longstanding allegation that Canada harbors Indian extremists.
Three Indian nationals who had been living in Canada temporarily were arrested on Tuesday in the slaying last June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had set off a diplomatic spat with India last September when he cited “credible allegations” of India’s involvement in the slaying of the Sikh separatist. India rejected the accusations.
Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said after the men’s arrests that the investigation into whether they had ties to India’s government was ongoing.
Jaiswal said the two governments are discussing the case but that Canada has forwarded no specific evidence of the Indian government’s involvement.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal said New Delhi has complained to Canadian authorities that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence against India have been allowed entry and residency in Canada. “Many of our extradition requests are pending,” he said.
“Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties,” Jaiswal added. “We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters,” he said.
The three Indian men arrested in Canada haven’t yet sought any access to the Indian diplomats there, Jaiswal said.
The three — Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28 — appeared in court Tuesday via a video link and agreed to a trial in English. They were ordered to appear in British Columbia Provincial Court again on May 21.
They were arrested last week in Edmonton, Alberta. They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Spain, Ireland to recognize Palestinian state on May 21 — EU’s Borrell
- Calls for end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza
- Spain, others agreed to recognition of Palestinian state, seeing a two-state solution as essential for peace
MADRID: Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said late on Thursday ahead of an expected UN vote on Friday on a Palestinian bid to become a full member.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.
“This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognizes the will for that state to exist,” he said, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow.
Previously, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said the decision on recognition had been made, although he did not give a date.
International calls for a ceasefire and permanent end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel’s offensive in Gaza to rout out Hamas after the militants’ deadly cross-border attack on Oct. 7.
Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
On Friday the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE said on Thursday that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta had been waiting for the UN vote and were considering a joint recognition on May 21.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate comment on the date from the other countries.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said earlier this week his country would recognize Palestine’s statehood by mid June.
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
Spain, Ireland to recognize Palestinian state on May 21 — EU’s Borrell
- Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel
MADRID: Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said late on Thursday ahead of an expected UN vote on Friday on a Palestinian bid to become a full member.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.
“This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognizes the will for that state to exist,” he said, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow.
Previously, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said the decision on recognition had been made, although he did not give a date.
International calls for a ceasefire and permanent end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel’s offensive in Gaza to rout out Hamas after the militants’ deadly cross-border attack on Oct. 7.
Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
On Friday the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE said on Thursday that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta had been waiting for the UN vote and were considering a joint recognition on May 21.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate comment on the date from the other countries.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said earlier this week his country would recognize Palestine’s statehood by mid June.
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
Putin reappoints Mishustin as Russia’s prime minister
- Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the house, the State Duma, will hold a session later Friday to consider Mikhail Mishustin’s candidacy
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister for the lower house’s approval.
Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the house, the State Duma, will hold a session later Friday to consider Mishustin’s candidacy.
Mishustin’s approval is a mere proforma in the Kremlin-controlled parliament.
In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration.
Mishustin’s reappointment was widely expected by political observers, who noted that Putin values his skills and the lack of political ambition. Mishustin, the former head of Russia’s tax service, has kept a low profile, steering clear of political statements and avoiding media interviews.
