'Dream' turns into nightmare

'Dream' turns into nightmare

Pheu Thai MP Prasit Chaisrisa suffers a 'sleep disturbance' that is likely to haunt his dreams for some time - House chairs usually pander to the government, except in Wisut Chainaroon's case - Democrats keep incendiary rice details under wraps before embarrassing Boonsong

This week's censure debate appeared to be drifting into familiar territory until a sexist gibe uttered by a little-known MP from the Pheu Thai Party sparked an uproar and landed him in hot water.

A large billboard has been erected in Surin with a picture of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, right, and Prasit Chaisrisa, a Pheu Thai MP for Surin. The message on the board quotes Thaksin praising Surin voters for their wisdom in electing Mr Prasit as their MP.

Prasit Chaisrisa, a Pheu Thai MP for Surin province, is facing the unpleasant prospect of being charged with a disciplinary violation by parliament's ethics committee after he was accused of sexually harassing Democrat Party MP Rangsima Rodrassami during the third day of the three-day censure debate which wrapped up on Wednesday.

The lower House chamber erupted in noisy protest and counter protest as Ms Rangsima threw herself into the debate and accused the Ground Water Resources Department of irregularities and mishandling flood relief projects.

Ms Rangsima took to the floor and divulged information about alleged corrupt practices. At one point, she spoke about a dream, which was met by a response from Mr Prasit which raised eyebrows.

Mr Prasit said Ms Rangsima, noted for her shoot-from-the-hip debate style, could not simply discuss her dream in a parliamentary debate which demands credibility of information that is made public.

She could not also speak of something so unsubstantiated when accusing the government of malpractice: ''What would Ms Rangsima say if I said that in my dream I slept with her?'' he said.

That remark set off a raucous reaction from fellow MPs and non-parliamentarians, who demanded Mr Prasit be investigated for improper conduct.

The incident, however, has heightened Mr Prasit's profile and instantly catapulted him to the forefront of the political battlefield.

Mr Prasit frequently makes appearance on national television during telecasts of House sessions. Observers say the MP tends to prefer to engage in debate and counter-debate with fellow MPs who are widely known. By rubbing shoulders with them, Mr Prasit is able to make himself more prominent.

Mr Prasit has delighted a lot of grassroots constituents in Surin who see with their own eyes that he fulfils his role as a parliamentary debater.

However, some middle-class voters in the province do not hold him in high esteem, feeling his responses to interpellations or his counter-debates are low on substance. To them, the MP comes across as being disruptive during a session rather than constructive, according to a political party source.

Regardless of the mixed judgements about his conduct, Mr Prasit is an outstanding coordinator in the party who has managed to divert funds for development purposes to Surin, which has won him loyalty from a large section of voters.

Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra has publicly commended Mr Prasit, saying the Surin voters were wise to have elected the former police sergeant as their representative.

Democrats praise deputy speaker

It is not every day that a government MP is complimented by the senior ranks of the opposition.

Deputy House Speaker Wisut Chainaroon won praise from opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and other Democrat Party members who commended him for moderating the censure debate with neutrality and decisiveness.

Wisut: Upset his party

Chairing a censure debate is never easy for the House speaker or his or her deputies.

Keeping order in the chamber when both sides of the benches trade tirades and refuse to make concessions can put a lot of stress on even the most level-headed House speaker.

The speaker chairing a censure session is also a common target of opposition accusations of being impartial.

The House speaker and deputies are elected by lawmakers, the majority of whom are from the government coalition parties and naturally select persons from their bloc to this crucial post of the legislative branch.

But Mr Wisut, the Pheu Thai Party MP for Phayao, drew some admiration from opposition debaters, particularly Democrat Party leader Mr Abhisit, for showing he can sit on the fence despite scorn from certain quarters of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.

He was taken to task by several Pheu Thai MPs for being soft on the opposition and permitting the opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanavisit to have a field day levelling accusations against the prime minister and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

A source in Pheu Thai said party MPs had tried their hardest to protest but they could not do very much because the censure session was drawing to a close on Tuesday night.

The source noted the chairs of the meeting were rather accommodating to the opposition.

It added the chairs may have been bent on making themselves look as though they, as members of the majority-controlled Pheu Thai, were the bigger person in the debate by letting the opposition have its way. But this was uncalled for, a Pheu Thai MP said.

Mr Wisut conceded he may have been concentrating so much on trying to beat the debate conclusion deadline that he may have ''slipped''.

Mr Wisut's political background may have been the reason his opponents have doubts about his ability to uphold neutrality in presiding over parliamentary meetings.

Mr Wisut is one of the red-shirt core figures who had an active part to play in mobilising people for the mass protest at Ratchaprasong intersection in the middle of the Bangkok business district two years ago.

The protest against the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration dispersed after a clash with the military in May 2010.

Mr Wisut came under fire for allegedly wielding influence as an MP in the reshuffle of high-ranking government officials in Phayao. Mr Wisut categorically denied the allegation, branding it a mud-slinging ploy.

He has devised his own public relations vehicle aimed at attesting to his genuine resistance to graft. Mr Wisut's publicity team has opened a Facebook page to monitor the MP's own conduct. The page has the unusual and catchy name of ''Don't Let Wisut Cheat the Country''.

Secret details on rice 'explosive'

The censure motion came and went without denting the government's popularity although some startling new information came to light about the controversial rice pledging scheme.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and three other cabinet members came through the three-day debate relatively unscathed as the majority lawmakers backed them up with a vote of confidence.

Yingluck: Can’t evade responsibility

However, the main opposition Democrat Party, armed with flow charts and statistics boards, walked fellow MPs through what it claimed were blatant irregularities in the rice pledging programme, which the government has insisted warrants merit for giving farmers unprecedentedly high prices for paddy.

The divulgence of new information was credited to Warong Dejkitvikrom, three-time Democrat MP for Phitsanulok.

Dr Warong took the floor and alleged that fraud in the scheme had been elaborate. The information has not been made public before and even took some government MPs aback.

He managed to rebuff disparagement that the opposition was only good at creating political fantasies.

The opposition was chided as ''gilding'' old stories about the government's alleged misdeeds and delivering noisy rants of nothingness.

But the government soon realised the censure debate was not what it had expected. Dr Warong caught the government off guard and left it fumbling for answers over his accusation that claims of pledged rice being sold to China via government to government trade were a hoax.

Dr Warong alleged a close aide of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra had registered a front company which sold the pledged rice stock domestically as well as exported it for a profit of between 3,000-5,000 baht a tonne.

The opposition MP said the firm conducted its trade in a way suggestive of money laundering.

The information of the alleged profiteering was passed to the opposition by a police officer who got hold of it from rice exporters and financial institutions which denounce corrupt practices.

The opposition aims to take the rice pledging issue to the next level by planning to file a graft complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission against the government and with the Anti-Money Laundering Office against the company.

Dr Warong said he believed Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom's days in office are numbered following the censure onslaught against him.

He voiced confidence his rice pledging revelation was damning enough to send Mr Boonsong packing from the ministry as the government may now be looking to eliminate its weakest link.

Dr Warong added Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra herself could not evade responsibility for allegedly declaring the pledged rice exports were bound by a G-to-G contract and a memorandum of understanding when, as the MP asserted, they were non-existent.

Dr Warong and the Democrats' working team had kept the rice pledging information under tight wraps in the lead-up to the censure debate.

Nothing confidential was leaked from the opposition's censure war room that could have given its targets an opportunity for a cover up, according to Dr Warong.

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