The Senate has decided to postpone its extraordinary session until April 24 after the earlier scheduled date faced legal problems.
Surachai: PM can ask for royal decree
The new date was unveiled by the senate secretariat which said it has informed “relevant agencies” that the session has been changed from tomorrow to April 24.
Earlier this month, the Council of State, the government’s legal adviser, wrote to the cabinet secretariat to say that the Upper House cannot convene tomorrow to consider the impeachment of suspended Senate Speaker Nikhom Wairatpanich and ex-parliament president Somsak Kiatsuranon.
The Council of State's reason for the delay was that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which found the men guilty of breaching the constitution, suggested the impeachment should take place outside the Senate session.
In this case, it explained, the Senate session can be convened only if the Senate speaker asks the parliament president to seek a royal command.
However, deputy Senate Speaker Surachai Liangboonlertchai, now the acting Senate Speaker, insisted that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra can ask for the royal decree which will allow the extraordinary session of the Senate.
But Ms Yingluck has still not ''signed her name'' to forward the call for the Senate meeting to His Majesty the King, Mr Surachai said.
The constitution’s Section 132 allows the Senate to convene, despite the dissolved House, to appoint and impeach.
The delay will not affect the case against the politicians, Mr Surachai said.
“Unlawful behaviour is still unlawful, no matter when the session starts,” he said.
The NACC has asked the Senate to impeach Mr Nikhom and Mr Somsak who are among 383 former MPs and senators who voted to pass the draft charter amendment seeking to change the make-up of the Senate to a fully elected chamber.
The amendment was ruled by the Constitutional Court as being in violation of the charter’s Section 68, which prohibits unconstitutional efforts to seize power.
Mr Nikhom said yesterday the Senate’s meeting aims to “attack” him and pave the way for the impeachment of Ms Yingluck, whose role in the government's rice-pledging scheme is being considered by the NACC.
Caretaker Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri said the cabinet secretariat, not the cabinet, will consider when to hold the Senate meeting.