Senate Speaker Pornpetch Witchitcholchai was not wrong when he said on Monday that getting rid of the 250 appointed senators is like getting rid of family members or housekeepers within the family.
The current members of the senate, who were all handpicked by the previous coup-makers, are their friends, followers and family members.
This includes the prime minister’s younger brother, Preecha Chan-ocha, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan’s younger brother, Sithawat Wongsuwan, Former Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s brother, Pisethsom Jatusripitak, and Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam’s brother, Chalermchai Krea-ngam.
Of the 250 appointed senators, 194 were handpicked by Prawit and appointed by the junta, which was also known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
Another 50 were appointed by the NCPO out of 200 representatives from ten professional groups.
The remaining six were then automatically appointed from the security forces and 104 of the 250 appointed senators are military or police officers, while 15 came straight out of the junta’s cabinet.
So yes, these are all friends and families of the coup-makers who voted for their dear leader to become the current prime minister.
This is one of the reasons why protestors were out on the streets asking for a constitutional amendment. They want to get rid of these junta-appointed deadweights.
But somehow, Pornpetch continues to be clueless.
He failed to even see the irony of his analogy between getting rid of the appointed senators and getting rid of family members or housekeepers within the family.
“They have rights,” he said.
What about the rights of the people when you overthrew an elected government and tore down the previous social contract so that you, your friends, your families and your supreme commander could be in power?
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said he is willing to amend the constitution but we all know that he will not change any rules that will take his power away from him. These deadweight senators are one of them.
The protestors have provided a deadline for the senators to step down by September 30 and Pornpetch already said that it would be almost impossible to achieve within the provided time.
Protest leader Anon Numpha told me that he believes it could be done if the prime minister and senators are sincere but I highly doubt that based on my disbelief in Pinocchio’s story and the sincerity of these ‘Yes’ man.
The opposition MPs are now pushing their version to the rewritten bill and the government will propose one of its own to the parliament but this is only the first gridlock. There will be a second and third reading before the bill is passed.
Anon said the three readings could be done swiftly if the government is willing. I do not know if he just being optimistic or he knows that it is not going to happen.
Mass protesting is now on hold until September 30, and by that time, we will know if the protestors will come out on the streets again.
From Pornpetch’s comments, there is no urgency and there is no sincerity from the senators to step down simply because they still do not know nor accept the fact that they are one of the main parts of the problem.
And by the way, Senator, not everyone in this country has a housekeeper. Please step out from your mansion and Mercedes to look around the streets sometime.
