BANGKOK, Jan 26 – Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai Party on Thursday said it will file a counter charge against the opposition Democrat Party and its 145 MPs for filing a false petition against the prime minister and foreign minister on their alleged role in returning a passport to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit announced the move following the Democrat Party filing of a petition with Senate Speaker Theeradej Meepian to impeach Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul on Tuesday.
The Democrat petition signed by 145 party MPs accused the premier of intentionally neglecting her duty, and Mr Surapong of violating several foreign ministry regulations including the return of a passport to a person with an outstanding arrest warrant.
The Democrat action was in response to Mr Surapong’s remark last December that he had returned an ordinary passport to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin as a ‘New Year’s gift’ and that his action complied with ministerial regulations and was within his authority as foreign minister.
Mr Prompong commented today that the Democrat move is considered politically motivated and attempted to link the premier with the reissuance of the passport to Mr Thaksin.
Regarding the Democrat statement that no progress has occurred since its MPs submitted a letter of complaint to Ms Yingluck on Dec 28, asking her to suspend the reissuance of the controversial passport by Jan 9, the spokesman said the Democrat deadline was too early and that the Democrat Party action interfered with the government’s work and tried to discredit the government.
Mr Prompong argued that the issue of the return of passport to Mr Thaksin was merely a differing view between former foreign minister Kasit Piromya and the current minister. The prime minister however had already assigned the foreign ministry to look into the matter.
Spokesman Prompong accused the Democrat Party of intentionally filing a false complaint and said that the Pheu Thai legal team will file a countercharge against the party and its 145 MPs who endorsed the impeachment petition.
The deposed premier’s ordinary passport was revoked in mid-April 2009 by the foreign ministry under the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration following political turmoil and street clashes between the Red Shirt supporters of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and the government’s security forces.
Ousted in a bloodless coup in Sept 2006, Mr Thaksin was convicted and given a two-year jail term after being found guilty of violating Thailand’s conflict of interest laws in helping his then-wife secure a parcel of state land in a prime commercial area of Bangkok. He now lives in self exile and spends most of his time in Dubai.
