Thailand's Caretaker PM asks for postponed testimony before court

BANGKOK, April 17 (TNA) - Thailand's Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has asked for the postponement of her testimony with the Constitutional Court for 15 days on her unlawful transfer of Thawil Pliensri from being the National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general. Pimol Thampithakpong, Chief Spokesman of the Constitutional Court, told journalists on Thursday that Yingluck was scheduled to testify before the Constitutional Court on April 18, 2014, but she has had her lawyer to seek the 15-day postponement from the court. According to the chief spokesman, the president of the Constitutional Court has acknowledged the caretaker prime minister's request and concerned judges will decide whether the court will agree with the proposed postponement. Earlier, Bangkok's Administrative Court and Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Thawil's transfer in 2011 was unlawful because it paved the way for the promotion of the caretaker prime minister's relative Police General Priewpan Damapong to be a national police chief. Meanwhile, Deputy Senate Speaker Surachai Liangboonlertchai, who acts as the Senate Speaker, convened the Senate's legal experts to discuss ways out, as the Senate cannot open on April 18, as a difference in the legal interpretation remains between the Senate and the caretaker government on an issue regarding the issuance of a royal decree to open the Senate. At the next Senate session, the Senate is due to consider the impeachment of Senate Speaker Nikhom Wairatpanich whom the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has found with malfeasance for supporting an illegal Charter amendment to change the makeup of the Thai Senate. Deputy Spokesman of the Democrat Party Jurin Laksanavisit, in the meantime, urged the caretaker prime minister to accept upcoming rulings of independent organizations for the sake of national peace, after pro-government red-shirt demonstrators have vowed to oppose the rulings. Meanwhile, the caretaker government-run Center for Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) insisted that the Constitutional Court has no authority to oust the Thai Cabinet if it ruled against the caretaker prime minister in the case of unlawful transfer of Thawil, as the Constitution allowed the Constitutional Court to oust only Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra if it ruled that her order to transfer Thawil as the NSC chief was unconstitutional and the Thai Charter requires the Thai Cabinet to become the caretaker government if the caretaker prime minister was disqualified. Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director-General Tharit Pengdit, in his capacity as a CAPO executive member, pointed out if the Constitutional Court went beyond its authority, the caretaker government could seek His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's advice, based on Article 7 of the 2007 Constitution, whether the Cabinet could play its role as the caretaker administration. (TNA)