BANGKOK, 22 November 2013 House speaker Somsak Kiatsuranon has revealed that the censure motion request by the Opposition parties has been put on the House agenda, despite earlier querries over the validity of the filing.
Mr. Somsak said on Thursday that after evaluating the current situation in the country, it was deemed fit to include the censure motion into the meeting agenda. The duration of the censure debate and the dates on which it will take place will be jointly decided by the government and opposition whips, but must take place before November 28, as this will be the last day for the current House session. Mr. Somsak reiterated he would like to ask for the Democrat Party’s cooperation in sending in documents stating the accusations against the prime minister and the ministers to be scrutinized in the debate, by November 25. The additional documents would allow the House speaker to better supervise the debate.
Government chief whip Amnuay Khlangpha, meanwhile, expressed his belief that the censure debate would take only one day to complete, because the motion was only submitted against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Interior Minister Charuphong Ruangsuwan. However, Opposition chief whip Churin Laksanawisit asserted that at least 3 days would be needed, and the Opposition would take an allocation of only a single day as an effort by the government to deter moves to scrutinize it.
