|
|
|
|
|
|
 October 2012 : Third Cabinet Reshuffle
Third Cabinet re-shuffle Prime Minister,Yingluck Shinawatra, reshuffled her Cabinet for the third time in 14 months of office. The names were gazetted on 28th October 2012 :
Parliamentary censure The Opposition submitted a motion of censure of the Government scheduled for 25th-26thNovember 2012. Voting will be on 27thor 28th November if the debate is not finished. Jarupong elected Phue Thai leader The Phue Thai Party held an extraordinary meeting on 30th October and its 334 members elected Jarupong Ruangsuwan as leader by 332 votes. Jarupong, recently was appointed Interior Minister succeeding Yongyoot Wichaidit who resigned from party leadership and the Interior portfolio NTC endorsed 3G auction On 18th October 2012, the National Telecommunication Commission of NBTC (NTC) voted 4 to 1 to endorse 3G auction results that took place on 16th October. The three bidders who will share licenses are 1) Advance Wireless Network Ltd., an affiliate of AIS, 2) Real Future Ltd, an affiliate of True Move, and 3) DTAC Network Ltd, an affiliate of DTAC. Bid prices were Bt. 14,625 million, Bt. 13,500 million and Bt. 13,500 million respectively. Since all bidders are affiliates of telecommunication providers in the market, there is fear that there was collusion and bid prices lower than they should be. Some agencies are trying to cancel the auction. Bt. 517 million for southern provinces On 22nd October 2012, the Cabinet meeting in Surat Thani Province approved 27 development projects, worth Bt. 517.34 million, for 4 southern provinces on the Gulf of Thailand. The Cabinet also in principle approved another 96 projects for the same area. Relevant agencies have been assigned to further study these projects with a total value of Bt. 40,200.99 million. Senate approved public-private joint investment On 29th October 2012, the Senate by a majority of 111 in principle approved the Public-Private Joint Investment draft Bill and appointed a 23 member-panel to consider the Bill and resubmit within 7 days. The Bill’s principles are to appoint a committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, to propose joint investments between the state and private sectors. The committee will also propose 5 year-strategic plans for Cabinet’s approval and to recommend criteria and means of any financial arrangement. Public debt management plan for 2013 On 9th October, the Cabinet approved the public debt management plan for 2013 totaling Bt. 1.92 trillion of which Bt. 959,391 million, Bt. 737,602 million and Bt. 223,138 million are new debt, debt-restructuring and risk management respectively. A new loan of Bt. 943,396 million will be sought from domestic sources while Bt. 15,455 million will be from foreign. The total debt of Bt. 1.92 trillion is equivalent to 47.5% GDP, which is lower than the maximum 60% for financial stability. Moreover, public debt-fiscal budget ratio is only 7.4%, against the maximum of 15%. Q3 economy grew only 4% The Director of the Fiscal Policy Department, Somchai Sajjapong, anticipates that the economy in the third quarter will grow 3.5-4% due to a rise in domestic consumption and investments in the private sector. But even a 4% growth is too low for the annual target of 5.5%, so economic growth in Q4 would have to reach 12-14% to achieve that target. Public debt 44.89% GDP in 2012 The Director General of the Public Debt Management Department, Churarat Sutheethorn, disclosed that net public debt in August rose by Bt. 103 billion to a total of Bt. 5.01 trillion on 31st August 2012, or equivalent to 44.89% of GDP. Among these, Bt. 3.62 trillion is government debt, Bt. 1.02 trillion non-financial state enterprises, Bt. 351 billion government guaranteed state enterprises, and Bt. 6.541 billion autonomous agencies. Arrest warrant for Thaksin for Krung Thai loan On 11th October 2012, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions issued an arrest warrant on the fugitive former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra,for his part in the fraudulent loan transaction by the state owned Krung Thai bank. Since the offender was not in the jurisdiction, his case was taken out of the list. The Attorney General, Julasing Wassantasing, filed charges against Thaksin and 29 others including the former Krung Thai Bank Managing Director, Wirote Nuankae, and Krisda Mahanakorn Plc. for conspiracy in granting Bt. 10 billion loans to companies affiliated to Krisda Mahanakorn. House passed 2 money-laundering bills On 24th October 2012, the House of Representatives voted 371 and 362 to pass two money-laundering bills. They are the Counter-Money Laundering Bill and the Counter-Terrorism Financial Bill. The bills will now go to the Senate. The Counter-Money Laundering Bill specifies offences and violations, grants authority to the Counter-Money Laundering Committee and sets out responsibilities for the Office of the Committee. Prosecution will be under the responsibility of the Division of Special Investigation (DSI). The Counter-Terrorism Financial Bill sets up measures to counter and suppress financial support to terrorists and to prevent access to their assets. Violations and punishments as well as list of designated terrorists will be specified. More rice pledging in 2012 On 15th October 2012, the Cabinet resolved to allow pledging of a further 1.39 million tons of rice in the 2012 program, making a total of 14.70 million tons. The responsible agency, the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will use its current allocated budget of Bt. 90 billion for this additional amount. Senators sought ruling on G2G export On 16th October 2012, 67 Senators petitioned the Constitutional Court through the Senate Speaker, Nikom Wairatpanich, to consider whether or not the government’s sale of 7.32 million tons of rice, worth Bt. 114 billion, under a Government-to-Government (G2G) contract is to be subjected to parliamentary approval according to Article 190 of the Constitution. The Court had already refused to consider the constitutionality of the rice-pledging program as petitioned by the Dean of NIDA’s School of Development Economics, Adis Issarangkul Na Ayuthaya, and 146 others. The Court found that the Petitioners were not persons whose rights and liberties were violated under Article 212 of the Constitution; therefore, they had no standing in the matter. Rice Pledging is the most criticized of all government programs because of corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has begun to collect evidence for consideration. Pitak Siam demonstration had 30,000 The civil society led by a leader of the Pitak Siam group, retired General Boonlert Kaewprasit, held an anti-government demonstration on 28th October 2012 at the Nang Leung racecourse. They cited 3 criticisms of the government:
Prior to the demonstration, Gen. Boonlert said he would cancel the demonstration if less than one thousand persons attended. In any event, the whole of the stadium was packed. During the day, more than 30,000 people registered, with hundreds more who did not. Pitak Siam second demonstration is scheduled for 24th November 2012 at the King Rama V statue in front of Parliament. Artificial Rain agency becomes department On 15th October 2012, the Senate voted 109 to 8 to pass its first reading of the Bill to establish the artificial rain department and appointed a panel to deliberate within 7 days. The Bill’s purpose is to upgrade the existing artificial rain and agricultural aviation agency to become a full department in the Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Ministry. Article 112 constitutional On 10th October 2012, judges of the Constitution Court unanimously ruled that Article 112 of the Criminal Code is constitutional as it is used to protect the monarchy against defamation. A lese majesty defendant, Somyos Prueksakasemsuk, petitioned the Court to rule whether Article 112 is a violation of human rights safeguarded by Section 29 paragraphs 1 and 2 and Section 45 of the Constitution. Section 29. The restriction of rights and liberties of a person as recognized by the Constitution shall not be imposed except by virtue of law specifically enacted for the purpose determined by this Constitution and to the extent of necessity and provided that it shall not affect the essential substances of such rights and liberties. The law under paragraph one shall be of general application and shall not be intended to apply to any particular case or person; provided that the provisions of the Constitution authorizing its enactment shall also be mentioned therein. The provisions of paragraph one and paragraph two shall apply mutatis mutandis to rules or regulations issued by virtue of law. Section 45. A person shall enjoy the liberty to express opinions, speech, writing, printing, publication, and expressions by other means. Restriction on liberty under paragraph one shall not be imposed except by virtue of law specifically enacted for the purpose of maintaining the security and safety of the State, protecting the rights, liberties, dignity, reputation, family or privacy rights of other persons, maintaining public order or good morals or preventing or halting the deterioration of the mind or health of the public. Follow up on Abhisit Cabinet’s assets On 9th August 2012, the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission disclosed assets and liabilities of the Abhisit Vejjajiva Cabinet after one year since leaving office. After deducting liabilities, these include:
Cabinet approved online lottery On 9th October 2012, the Cabinet approved the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s proposal to implement online lottery to resolve problems of overpricing, corruption in lottery quotas, and money laundering among politicians and state officers. Buyers can buy 2-3 digits lottery from automated vending machines. Teachers get retroactive pay raise The Economic Cabinet, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Kittirat Na Ranong, resolved to raise salaries for new staff in the education sectorto Bt. 15,000 monthly retroactive to 1st January 2012, to equalize to those in the civil service. There are a total of 86,300 educational personnel nationwide and the screening committee further proposed that those not entitle but affected by the new rate would also get retroactive increases. The recommendation will go before the next Cabinet meeting. Thailand 26th in image The advertising and marketing research company, McCANN Worldgroup Ltd., revealed its Country Brand Index of 2012-2013. Switzerland came 1st as the country with the best image followed by Canada, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, USA, Finland and Norway. Amongst those in Asia, Singapore came first at number 14th followed by Thailand at 26th. The company also ranked the “FUTURE 15” or countries most likely to be world leaders in the future. They are: UAE, Chile, Malaysia, Qatar, Estonia, Republic of China, Iceland, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Thailand. |
 |
