Sirawith has yet to decide whether he will agree to the deal.

The anti-junta activist was discharged from hospital on Sunday after having been under medical care since June 28, when he was attacked in Bangkok by four bat-wielding men in broad daylight. This was the second violent assault on Sirawath in the space of a month but police have been unable to identify or catch the attackers in either case.

The latest assault left him with serious injuries including a fractured eye socket that has affected his sight and forced him to postpone travelling to India, where he was due to study for a master’s degree. Told he will need at least six months to recover, Sirawith has asked for his scholarship to be postponed until next year.

Prinn, also deputy party leader, told a press conference at the Democrats’ head office that his “modern economic team” had recently visited farmers in Khon Kaen, Roi Et and Maha Sarakham and found that both urgent and long-term action was needed to solve water shortages due to prolonged drought. Noting that recent rain-making operations had not covered drought-hit areas such as Thung Kula Ronghai in Roi Et’s Kaset Wisai district, Prinn promised to coordinate with the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry permanent secretary on future efforts to seed clouds.

As a longer-term solution, he said a proposal for so-called “monkey cheeks” water-retention areas to supply rice-growing zones all year round would be sent to the incoming Agriculture Minister, a Democrat Party member.

Prinn said that, since the problem of overwhelming debt still afflicted nearly all farming communities, his team would push the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to restructure debts and offer repayment leniency, as well as promote good saving habits and spending discipline among farmers. He also said more ways must be found for farmers to boost their incomes and ease debt burdens, including by organising agricultural attractions in communities, processing farm produce into premium-quality organic products, and exploiting digital channels to sell products online, perhaps with the help of e-commerce training from the Commerce Ministry.

Noting ongoing attempts to develop new rice strains, Prinn said that people should instead focus on coaxing already-existing strains to yield better crops, adding that the related ministries of Agriculture and Co-operatives and of Commerce should discuss this together.

“The problem-solving attempts must aim to create sustainability in order to be effective in improving the economy and people’s life quality,” Prinn said, expressing confidence that Democrat ministers would be able to tackle the issues.

“No matter what clothes a person chooses to wear, they must perform their duties and deliver results while also respecting the importance of the occasion and the place,” the veteran politician said.

Chuan said the House of Representatives would discuss the matter of MPs’ attire on Wednesday, after which a committee would be assigned to provide clear guidelines.

“In the past, MPs’ attire varied but all of them were sensitive to what was appropriate according to time and place. MPs are adults, and I believe they already know what is regarded as appropriate. So the focus should be on their behaviour or what they actually do,” he added.

Batting away complaints in Parliament, Chuan stated he supported the right of MPs to wear traditional Thai attire in meetings, and revealed moves to mandate the traditional dress code on one day per week. He pointed out that while Western-style suits were not obligatory, they are considered appropriate dress in Parliament and are commonly worn by male and even female MPs.

So far only one member – Future Forward Party’s party-list MP Chulapan Nonsrichai – had requested special permission for their attire in Parliament, said Chuan. Chulapan, who has a physical disability, had asked for permission to wear shorts in meetings.

Chuan also confirmed he had forwarded a petition from Pheu Thai Party politicians to the Constitutional Court calling for PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha to be disqualified as a Cabinet member since he is also a state official. The petition was signed by 100 MPs, not 101 as previously reported due to a name redundancy.

She was speaking at a seminar entitled “Ending all forms of Violence”, on Saturday.

Sirawith, also known as “Ja New”, sustained head injuries and fractures to the nose and eye socket after being attacked by a group of men on June 28.

The seminar was organised by the Relatives Committee of May 1992 Heroes.

“I believe that when he recovers he will continue to engage in political activity because my son believes that if he does not do anything, the country will not get justice,” she said.

Meanwhile,Jatuporn Prompan, a former leader of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, told the seminar that the government must apprehend the people who hurt “Ja New” because this will show that the government opposes attacks and harassment of its opponents.

“If General Prayut Chan-o-cha wants to rule for the long term, he has to take action and catch the people who hurt Ja New soon,” he said.

Gothom Arya, director of Institute of Human Right and Peace Studies at Mahidol University, suggested that the government end violence in society through decentralisation, and reducing the peddling of hate through social media. He urged the government and police to apprehend the culprits in the Sirawith case and prosecute them.

“I am sympathetic to the government of General Prayut. Even a steel ship that is not careful can be wrecked. However, I expect that the government will take care of all groups of people without creating issues that make parties view politics differently. The government, at the least, must be open to different political opinions,” said Gothom.

However, Chartthaipattana has already sent its campaign policies to Phalang Pracharat secretary-general Sontirat Sontijirawong, who has been putting together policy submissions.

Nikorn said Chartthaipattana has submitted policies addressing seven urgent issues: agriculture, education, society, public health, decentralisation, tourism and urban development.

Nikorn also revealed that a representative of his party would be responsible for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has already decided on the Cabinet members of the coalition government, according to Phalang Pracharat spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.

The petition, signed by 101 MPs, was handed to Chuan by opposition Pheu Thai Party member Chonlanan Srikieo.

The petition points out that Prayut does not qualify as Cabinet member according to the charter as he is already a state official. Prayut is apparently being considered for the post of defence minister as the incumbent, Prawit Wongsuwan, has voiced plans to step down due to failing health.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) said it had received a similar petition earlier against Prayut taking over as PM, but chose not to forward it to the Constitutional Court, saying it had already approved the nomination by Phalang Pracharat Party and that his status was valid according to the charter and related laws.

However, the opposition MPs said the EC’s verdict was unclear and wanted this matter to also be forwarded to the Constitutional Court for further consideration.

Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, deputy spokesperson for the party, said the opposition should give the new government some time to work before launching no-confidence motions against it.

“I want the opposition to be more open-minded and give the new government some time to do their job. If they see something wrong, then the opposition can file a censure motion,” Thanakorn said.

“They [the opposition] should not act like children and throw tantrums when they don’t get what they want.”

Thanakorn was responding to a threat by opposition Pheu Thai MP Cholnan Srikaew that he will file a censure motion against Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha if he gives the Finance portfolio to Phalang Pracharat leader Uttama Savanayana.

Opposition politicians have said that Uttama is not qualified for the job as he was allegedly involved in a loan scandal while working as a senior executive at the state-owned Krungthai Bank.

However, Thanakorn dismissed this allegation on Friday as a move by the opposition to discredit his party’s leader.

“I have explained repeatedly that Uttama was never involved in the scandal,” he said, adding that Uttama has passed the scrutiny of several agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Office of the Attorney General.

“Most importantly, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders also found that Uttama was not involved in the wrongdoing,” he said.

Uttama, meanwhile, portrayed himself as a victim of politically motivated distortion on Friday by posting a message on Facebook headlined: “I did nothing wrong, don’t distort facts”. In the post, he said moves to link him to the Krungthai loan scandal were politically motivated as investigation and court trials have already proved that he was not among the wrongdoers.

“And I was cleared at all stages of scrutiny and examination. Please don’t distort facts,” his post said.

“My friends in the opposition will do the country a favour if they help find the suspects in this case who are still on the run and bring them to court,” he added.

The loan scandal took place in 2003 – during the tenure of Thaksin Shinawatra’s government – in which top executives of the state-owned bank were accused of extending Bt9.9 billion in loans to ailing firms owned by the property giant Krissada Mahanakorn.

Twenty-seven people including Thaksin, bank executives and other officials were tried by the Supreme Court, which acquitted two and sentenced the rest to prison terms of 12 to 18 years. The trial against Thaksin in this case was dropped after he fled the country and an arrest warrant was subsequently issued.

Thaksin’s son Panthongtae was indicted last year for money-laundering in connection with the Krungthai loan scandal. He had apparently obtained a cheque for Bt10 million, which was part of the loans handed out.

Wissanu declined to give further details, saying that any media questions regarding the matter should be directed to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has the legal authority to seek royal endorsement for the Cabinet.

“You should wait for the prime minister to answer questions about this,” he told the media.

Wissanu, who is in charge of the outgoing government’s legal affairs, said that following a royal endorsement, the government would seek an audience with His Majesty the King for the new Cabinet members to take an oath. The process is required by law before a new Cabinet can start working officially.

Wissanu was speaking after presiding over the opening of Thailand Social Expo 2019 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

He refused to answer a question of whether new government ministers in the submitted list were the same as those in the list reported by the media in recent days. Also, Wissanu declined to answer a question of whether he would serve in the same position in the new Cabinet.

General Prayut will also head the incoming administration, a coalition consisting of 19 political parties and being led by the Phalang Pracharat Party.

An unconfirmed list of new Cabinet members has been circulating among media outlets since Wednesday. The list includes many high-profile members of the present caretaker Cabinet, with some members taking on new portfolios, including Somkid and Prawit.

The meeting of the committee at the Government House saw the participation of Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda, and National Security Council secretary general Gen Wallop Raksanoh, as well as representatives from the armed forces and security agencies concerned.

The Forward Command of the Internal Security Operation Command Area 4, which is in charge of security in the Deep South, also sent officials to the meeting.

Sources said the meeting discussed measures for the prevention of weapons of mass destruction being used in the country but that no conclusions had been reached on this subject.

The sources said the meeting also discussed the plan to extend the declaration of security situation in the three southern border provinces for three more months to September 19. The declaration has to be extended every three months.

Another point of discussion focused on how to more efficiently enforce the Internal Security Act.

Participants talked about the end of the tenure of the National Council for Peace and Order, which draws to a close once the new government takes office. The NCPO or the junta will hand over the security measures to the ISOC to continue cooperation with other ministries to keep peace and order in the country, the sources added.

The owner of the Cute Corner Cuisine, using the Facebook account Diow Saardyen, posted on her Facebook wall that the banquet was not as expensive as critics thought and pointed out that her eatery is a small, one-room shop, not an expensive luxury restaurant.

After Thanathorn posted a photo of him having a meal with his party MPs, critics were quick to respond. Several comments attacked the party, saying that while it was pushing for social equality and criticising the elite, the party MPs acted like the elite themselves.

Even a red-shirt leader, joined the fray. Nopporn Namchiangtai, a leader of a red-shirt group and a TV 24 channel host, shared the photo and said: “This picture needs no description. This meal definitely cost at least Bt100,000”.

But Diow said in her post that the shop charged the MPs just Bt600 a head and that everyone had paid their own way.

She said her restaurant offers dishes at prices starting from Bt80 and that patrons can more than satisfy their appetites for between Bt180 to Bt220.

She added that the eatery, which measures just 4×12 metres, looks large and luxurious thanks to the talents of her architect designer husband and his clever use of lighting.