By Piyanart Srivalo
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- To stay in power as long as possible, the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appears to have retreated on many issues it was trying to push through. The Pheu Thai Party currently faces its old "adversary", the Constitution Court. The court's verdicts are a recurring nightmare for the ruling party: its two predecessors, Thai Rak Thai and the People Power Party, were dissolved by the court.
And not to be forgotten is the Constitution Court's verdict in May to disqualify red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan as a party-list MP of the Pheu Thai for failing to cast his vote in last year's general election.
Signs of the government's retreat first appeared when Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont decided to delay the third reading of the charter amendment bill to avoid a stand-off with the Constitution Court.
The court ordered Parliament to suspend its vetting of the bill, pending a review of its constitutionality. It is to rule on whether the sponsors of the bill - the ruling party and its junior coalition allies - have violated Article 68 of the Constitution, which bans any attempt to topple democratic rule or to cling to power by unconstitutional means.
Pheu Thai was concerned that if the House of Representatives voted to pass the charter amendment bill in defiance of the Constitution Court's order, the burden would fall on Yingluck.
By law, after the House votes to pass a bill, the prime minister must submit the legislation for royal endorsement. If royal approval is delayed, the prime minister could land in trouble.
The government's latest stance on the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's request to use U-tapao airport to conduct atmospheric studies was another setback.
Yingluck's Cabinet last week resolved to forward Nasa's request to Parliament for a non-voting debate for the purposes of transparency.
If the Cabinet allowed the use of the airport without a parliamentary debate, the administration feared it might end up before the Constitution Court, as the main opposition party would file a complaint to the court accusing the government of acting unconstitutionally.
Four years ago, Noppadon Pattama resigned as foreign minister after the Constitution Court ruled that he acted unconstitutionally when he endorsed Cambodia's application to have Preah Vihear Temple registered as a Unesco World Heritage Site without first consulting Parliament on the matter.
Another even bigger time bomb lay in the reconciliation bills. The ruling party seemed to have no choice but to withdraw the bills from the deliberation of the House. The four bills are now at the top of the agenda for the House's next session, which will convene on August 1.
House Speaker Somsak recently suggested repeatedly that the national reconciliation bills should be withdrawn when the House convenes next month. He realised that whether the government's stay in power is long or short depends on the unity bills.
The bills were criticised as a tool for the government to help fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra return to the country without receiving any punishment.
The withdrawal would defuse the time bomb. If deliberation of the bills continues, political conflict may be unavoidable and it would ultimately affect the government's stability.
Apparently, Thaksin has agreed he should not return home soon but stay abroad for quite a long time. He recently sent a clear signal on those issues.
According to Pheu Thai MP Griangsak Saysreengam, Thaksin urged the party to comply with the outcome of the judicial decision on the charter amendment bills.
Thaksin also suggested that the reconciliation bills should be postponed if society still doesn't understand them.
Thaksin seems to be well aware that the more patient he is, the longer his sister Yingluck will be able to stay in power.
-- The Nation 2012-07-05
