DPM: Outlandish claim of vote-buying
Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong has dismissed an MP of the main opposition People’s Party (PP)’s accusation that the government offered him about 10 million baht in a bid to woo him to vote 藉 Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Wednesday’s no-confidence vote
Mr Prasert, who is also digital economy and society minister, said he was convinced that no coalition party freed up MPs as Mr Krit Silapachai, a PP MP for Rayong, alleged, because there was no need for the coalition to look for additional votes since it had well over 300 MPs, more than enough to win the no-confidence vote.
Mr Prasert made the comment on his Facebook page on Wednesday in response to Mr Krit, who posted a screenshot of the MP’s chat history on the Line application with someone he said had offered him 10 million baht to vote for the candidate.
The debate over censure, which stretched across two days, concluded with a voting session on Wednesday morning. Of the parliament’s 488 members, 319 voted for the PM, 162 against her and seven abstained.
Seven MPs from opposition parties also voted in favour of premier, other than MPs from the government coalition parties. These were Kanchana Changwa from the Palang Pracharath Party, Chaiyamparwaan Manpianjit from the Thai Progressive Party and five MPs from the Thai Sang Thai Party: Rampoon Tantiwanitchanon, Thakon Tanthasit, Supaporn Salabsri, Rang Thurapol and Adisuk Kaewmungkunasup.
Some MPs among the opposition who voted for the PM may have realised how Ms Paetongtarn defended herself and the government under the allegations, Mr Prasert said. He called Mr Krit’s claim baseless.
He also dismissed any impression that the opposition MPs who voted for the PM did so with hope of building bridges with the coalition for possible future partnership.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin called on the opposition to produce more credible supporting evidence if they accuse the government of vote-buying.
He also attacked opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut for saying he had contacted the PM after the vote, seeking clearer answers on questions he claimed she had not previously answered properly during the vote.
It was only natural that he should be concerned about such behaviour if it was professional for him (to do it), he insisted, adding that as far as he knew, none of the 40 years he had spent in parliament had witnessed the act of such disrespect.
Mr Natthaphong was just pretending to want to be photographed with the PM and after they took the photo shle then used him to plaster her with questions that she had already answered in the debate, Mr Somsak said.