MOUNTING PRESSURE TO REMOVE ABHISIT

By Jamaluddin Muhammad

BANGKOK, July 16 (Bernama) -– It seems that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
is a picture of discomfort, judging by the mounting pressure for his removal
from office.

After surviving a 10-week protest staged by the anti-government Red Shirts
in May, followed by a vote of no-confidence in Parliament last month, there
appears to be no let-up, in as far as his woes are concerned.

The latest is the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigation,
following a petition filed by an opposition senator seeking to remove Abhisit
from office.

The premier is alleged to have violated Article 103 of the NACC Act for
asking three mobile phone companies to send out short messages services (SMS) to
17 million subscribers, free of charge, when he took office in 2008.

The SMS, sent a day after Abhisit took office, read: "This is your new prime
minister, may I ask you to help bring our country out of crisis. If you are
interested in receiving further messages from me, please reply to 9191".

The law prohibits government officials from accepting any asset worth more
than 3,000 Baht (about RM300) and if found guilty, they can be jailed for a
maximum of three years or fined a maximum of 60,000 Baht, or both.

They could also be impeached from their positions, in accordance with the
Constitution.

The opposition senator, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, filed the petition about 18
months ago, and today the NACC was scheduled to announce its decision on whether
to proceed with the case or otherwise.

Apart from Abhisit, the petition was also made by the same senator against
Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij for allegedly committing a similar offence.

NACC Commissioner Klanarong Chanthik announced Friday that the anti-graft
body postponed its ruling on the petition against Abhisit and Korn, as there was
a need for further investigations into the case.

The Abhisit administration still stands tall, despite street protests by
the Red Shirt protesters which left 90 people dead and 1,800 others injured in
violent clashes between protesters and troops between April 10 and May 19.

The use of M-16, AK-47 firearms, bombs and the service of snipers by the
so-called 'men in black' among the Red Shirt protesters, turned the city
centre into a war zone, marking the worst violence in modern Thai history.

Shortly after, opposition party Pheu Thai brought a vote of no-confidence
motion against Abhisit in Parliament but the premier survived the challenge in
a June 2 voting.

Abhisit, who leads the Democrat Party, the backbone of the current coalition
government, will also have to face a legal battle with the Constitutional Court
which will decide whether to ban the party and its executives.

Not one, but two cases have been forwarded to the Constitutional Court for
the dissolution of the 64-year-old Democrat Party.

Last Tuesday, the Office of the Attorney-General forwarded its case to the
Constitution Court for the dissolution of the Democrat Party, and to ban its
executives who held positions in 2004 and 2005 from politics for five years.

The party is alleged to have received illicit donations amounting to 258
million Baht (about RM26.5 million) in 2005. Abhisit was the deputy party
leader in 2004 and the party leader in 2005.

On top of that, the Democrat Party is already facing a dissolution threat,
following an allegation that the party had misused 29 million Baht (about RM2.98
million) granted in 2005 from the Election Commission's political development
fund.

The court has set Aug 9 for the first hearing of the 29 million Baht case.

It leaves a big question mark on whether the party can survive before the
current government's term of office ends in December next year.

-- BERNAMA