POLITICS
Democrats, senators say Noppadon wrong
POST REPORTERS
The Democrat party and a group of senators are separately asking the Constitution Court to nullify Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama's signing of the joint statement with Cambodia to back Phnom Penh's bid to have the Preah Vihear temple listed as a World Heritage site. The move comes as the Administrative Court yesterday started the process of deciding whether to accept the case forwarded by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to nullify the cabinet resolution on June 17 to endorse the map of the temple.
The map and the joint statement will be used by the Cambodian government to forward its listing proposal to a World Heritage Committee meeting starting next week in Quebec.
The committee comes under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Democrat MPs would ask the Constitution Court probably by Monday to rule if Mr Noppadon had acted beyond his authority by signing the joint statement with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in Bangkok on June 18.
Mr Abhisit cited Article 190 of the constitution which requires the government to seek parliamentary approval before signing any international agreement that affects national sovereignty. A move to impeach the minister would come later, he added.
The opposition also said if the House votes against Mr Noppadon after the censure debate, then that vote could convince Unesco not to list the Preah Vihear temple.
In the censure debate a few days ago, the Democrats insisted the Thai government's support for Cambodia's unilateral listing of Preah Vihear would remove Thailand's right to have ownership of the temple reviewed.
Mr Abhisit said the Cambodian map Mr Noppadon had acknowledged could put Thailand at a disadvantage in talks to settle the borderline with Cambodia.
Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn said his group of senators was also preparing to ask for a similar ruling from the Constitution Court. He was confident the group could gather at least 63 signatures, as the charter requires, to back the petition. More than 50 senators signed yesterday, including Rosana Tositrakul, Wichian Khanchong and Sumon Sutawiriyawat.
If the Constitution Court rules that Mr Noppadon's action was unconstitutional, he should show responsibility at once so senators would not need to push for his impeachment, Senator Somchai said.
Historian Thepmontri Limpaphayom suggested that if the Cambodian request is put on the agenda of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec early next month, Thailand's World Heritage Committee should resign to pressure other member states on the World Heritage Committee to postpone considering the issue.
Supreme Commander Gen Boonsang Niampradit said the air force had already put its C-130 aircraft on standby in case it was necessary to evacuate Thais from Cambodia if the issue gets out of hand.
He also warned the government to carefully consider the territorial issue with Cambodia. Any loss of land would provoke similar situations concerning many disputed areas with other neighbouring countries, he said.
At the Administrative Court yesterday, Mr Noppadon assigned director-general of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department Krit Kraichitti to testify before the court on his behalf.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Next
