Senate Dissolved, Pro-Thaksin Officials Transferred Skip to main content

Senate Dissolved, Pro-Thaksin Officials Transferred


BANGKOK — The Thai military junta further consolidated its power tonight by dissolving the Senate and transferring top officials allied to the previous government to inactive posts.

The announcement was made in a statement released by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) this evening.

The NCPO provided no reasons for dissolving of the Senate, whose members are half-elected and half-appointed by the Courts and other independent agencies allied with the establishment. This Senate was largely controlled by its appointed members, who were considered to be sympathetic to the anti-government protest movement's cause.

The announcement effectively voided the last remaining legislative body in Thailand, granting the coup leaders all law-making powers. The House of Parliament and the Cabinet were dissovled by the NCPO when it seized power.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who declared a coup d'etat on 22 May, is now the acting prime minister. There has been no word on whether he will appoint a civilian premier, as was the case under past coups.

The NCPO also announced tonight that it would be transferring three officials to “assistant” duties at the Office of Prime Minister, which are understood to be inactive posts.

The three transferred officials include chief of the Division of Special Investigation (DSI) Tharit Pengdith, Royal Thai Police chief Adul Saengsingkaew, and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Nipat Thonglek.

All three men have been close allies to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the influential former Prime Minister who was ousted in the 2006 military coup, but remained the de facto leader of the former government while living in self-imposed exile abroad.

Since seizing power, the NCPO has summoned hundreds of politicans, activists, and academics. Many of those summoned, including former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, have been detained in undisclosed locations.

http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1400995088&section=11

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...

Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...