Without a new government officially taking office, Prayut can declare himself an “elected” prime minister and at the same time, leader of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) with sweeping powers.

Chaturon pointed out that Monday marked the third month since the March 24 elections, and if the Cabinet is set up next month like some Phalang Pracharat politicians have suggested, then it will be four months – the longest time it has ever taken to form a Cabinet.

“He has an upper hand over everybody. Why is he not finishing it up? What is he waiting for?” the veteran politician asked. “Or is Prayut enjoying his time both as PM and head of NCPO, who cannot be held accountable? Is he waiting to finish off some business while people cannot hold him in check?”

THAILAND IS confident that negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be completed by the end of the year following major progress made during the Asean Summit over the weekend, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who chaired the summit, said.

Thailand aims to conclude two additional chapters to the trade agreement by early July. So far, seven of the 20 RCEP chapters have been negotiated. Thailand is looking to show progress by closing two chapters by next month after negligible progress in the first six months under its leadership.

The mega-trade deal, which brings together the 10 Asean nations along with China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, has been stuck in negotiations for the past seven years. Once completed, it will be the largest multilateral trade deal in history.

“All Asean countries recognise the importance of completing the RCEP negotiations by the end of this year amid rising protectionism and trade tensions,” Prayut said yesterday at a press conference.

He said Thailand was confident of concluding the negotiations phase of the RCEP by the end of the year.

“The RCEP will enhance the centrality of the Asean region, connecting countries in the Indian subcontinent with those in the Asia-Pacific region, acting effectively as the centre of Asia,” he claimed.

“When the deal is successful, the 16 RCEP countries will form a multilateral trade bloc which represents a large portion of the global economy. This will increase Asean’s negotiating power with other countries in the future,” the prime minister said.

In 2018, trade between the RCEP countries represented up to a third of global trade. Thailand’s trade value with the RCEP countries was worth some US$70 billion in 2018. Thailand’s exports to the RCEP countries currently account for 58 per cent of its total exports, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Yesterday, trade officials headed to Melbourne, Australia, where the 16 RCEP countries will meet from June 25 to July 3 to resolve outstanding issues.

“Our target is that at least two chapters be closed out by the end of the senior economic officials’ meeting on RCEP in Melbourne,” Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN), said on the sidelines of the weekend summit.

The meeting in Melbourne, she said, would address all the 13 outstanding chapters and two chapters will be in particular focus. These two chapters include one on rules of origin of goods and another on trade in financial, telecom and professional sectors.

Auramon expects negotiations on these two chapters to be settled at the end of their trip to Melbourne, adding that currently the Asean region has established a common position on nearly all the remaining 13 RCEP chapters.

The key challenges, she said, are the chapters on trade in goods, trade in services and intellectual property standards.

The matter of trade in goods and services presents a challenge, as there are countries like China and India, which do not have a bilateral free trade agreement. This means that details on trade in goods and services between these countries have to be discussed without a free trade agreement framework to build upon, according to the trade official.

Meanwhile, there are different standards between developed economies and less developed economies on intellectual property protection, which will need to be resolved, she explained. For example, developed economies such as Japan, Australia and South Korea have a high standard on intellectual property regulations, which other less-developed economies may struggle to meet.

A National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) poll found most people (46.4 per cent) complaining that their elected representatives seemed focused only on securing ministerial portfolios.

The survey saw 1,277 people across the country, 18 years and up, quizzed on Friday and Saturday.

More than a third of respondents (35.8 per cent) said their MPs had not revisited their constituencies since the election.

Thirty-four per cent saw the MPs as playing the same old games – engaging in wars of words and invariably citing “the public interest” to justify their standpoints.

Nearly 32 per cent said politicians in the government coalition were focused on negotiations over Cabinet portfolios, while 16.3 per cent lamented that opposition politicians were engaging in repetitive arguments to try and topple the government.

There was a modicum of positive sentiment in the NIDA poll, with 9.2 per cent saying their representatives often visited them and 8.7 per cent saying most MPs were enthusiastic about working for the public interest.

Suan Dusit Poll survey whose results were released yesterday found citizens in largely similar opinions, with 32.8 per cent saying the battle over Cabinet appointments was confusing, problematic and dominated by self-serving political interests.

The poll covered 1,254 people across the country between Wednesday and Saturday.

Nearly 30 per cent of respondents said they wanted to be able to carefully check the qualifications of candidates for ministerial positions.

About 24 per cent saw nepotism at work in the Cabinet allocation process, while 15.6 per cent complained that the process was taking too long.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday it was solely the Cabinet secretariat’s job to check candidates’ qualifications.

He added that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had yet to submit a proposed line-up to the secretariat. That’s expected to happen this week now that the Asean Summit has concluded.

Pheu Thai spokesperson Ladawan Wongsriwong said General Prayut Chan-o-cha and other leaders of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had failed to disclose the composition of the senators selection committee in the Royal Gazette. She added that such an act could be against the Constitution.

“If that is the case, it means the selection of senators was null and void,” she said at her party’s headquarters.

The opposition politician said the failure to disclose names of the selection committee members led to suspicions among the public and the media.

“It is the duty of the House of Representatives to find facts about this matter,” Ladawan said, adding that a fact-finding committee should be set up and its findings must be reported to the House.

She said House Speaker Chuan Leekpai has no reasons to reject the seven-party opposition bloc’s motion seeking an investigation into the senators selection.

“The motion does not aim at verifying qualifications of senators, but rather it’s a scrutiny on the selection of senators, and on the exercising of power by General Prayut as the NCPO head and by other NCPO members,” Ladawan said.

“This also refers to the senators selection committee. What they did lacked political neutrality. The investigation was meant to find out if their action was constitutional,” she said.

The committee charged with selecting and nominating senators was reportedly composed of members of the junta and the Prayut government. Some of the committee members were appointed senators.

Pheu Thai deputy spokesman Chumsai Sriyapai said it was against the spirit of the Constitution for NCPO figures to sit in the selection committee. He said this was against the law and could affect the status of senators.

“All the votes made by the senators may be considered null and void, including their support for General Prayut to become prime minister,” he said.

The deputy spokesman also said that a petition could be filed with the Constitutional Court for a verdict on this matter.

The 2017 Constitution prohibits MPs from holding shares in media firms, and violators face disqualification, imprisonment, fine and a ban on voting rights.

However, Pheu Thai spokesperson Laddawan Wongsriwong said that granting an injunction for these MPs would be unfair as Thanathorn faces a similar allegation. She said that since the Future Forward leader had been suspended from his parliamentary duties, the 41 MPs from the pro-junta bloc should get the same treatment.

House Speaker Chuan Leekpai forwarded the cases against the 41 MPs to the Constitutional Court last week.

However, Phalang Pracharat deputy spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboon-kongchana rejected Laddawan’s insinuation that Thanathorn was being treated unfairly, saying the court had the jurisdiction to issue an injunction. He also cited a similar case during the Samak Sundaravej administration in 2008.

Thanakorn said the involvement of the 27 Phalang Prachart MPs in media companies was different compared to Thanathorn, adding the firm the Future Forward leader had invested in published magazines, while the 27 MPs were investors in companies that had nothing to do with media.

He explained that official documents for these companies covered a wide range of operations, and “media” was one of them. But, he said, the actual operations were very different from what is listed in the companies’ official documents.

The politician went on to say that he was confident the court would be fair to the MPs.

The MPs facing media shareholding accusations include ministerial candidates Nattapol Teepsuwan, Tewan Liptapanlop and Jatumongkol Sonakul.

While the threat of disqualification is imminent, Thanakorn said he believes PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha – who is considering the Cabinet line-up – will look at each candidate’s qualification carefully.

Meanwhile, Thanathorn’s legal representatives yesterday sought another 15-day adjournment from the Constitutional Court.

Prior to yesterday’s request, Thanathorn had sought a 30-day adjournment in addition to the 15 days he was given by the court to prepare his defence. The lawyers said they were seeking more time so the accuracy of documents could be verified.

The party secretary-general, Sontirat Sontijirawong, said on Thursday the party was discussing the issue but had yet to reach any conclusion.

The matter was multifaceted, the politician said, admitting that the party was working on allocation of political positions to its members.

Also being taken into consideration was the fact that the coalition had a slim majority in the lower house and any changes to it could affect the parliamentary majority, Sontirat added.

Other coalition partner parties did not have to take the same approach, Sontirat said.

Phalang Pracharat’s five list MPs, Nattapol Teepsuwan, Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Puttipong Punnakanta, Somsak Thepsutin and Santi Prompat, were the ministerial candidates that are expected to resign from the lower house to give way for the party’s other list MP candidates to replace them.

A source in the party said that traditionally the ministerial candidates must step down as MPs because the previous charters prohibited ministers who were MPs from voting on certain issues in the house.

But unlike its predecessor, this Constitution allowed the ministers who are MPs to vote in the censure motion.

The MPs who are ministerial candidates may not want to abandon their status in the house because if they were reshuffled from the Cabinet, they would be left with no political positions at all.

The concern over political activism stemmed from the disaster in 2009 when the Asean summit in Pattaya was wrecked by red-shirt protesters discontent with the Abhisit Vejjajiva premiership.

Chakthip said on Thursday after the meeting on security provision for the summit that the authorities had been following up with the political groups. Talks had been conducted and he believed they should not pose any problem, he added.

The disaster in 2009 had been studied and the authorities had plans to avoid it from recurring, the police chief said. All the forces were 100 per cent ready for the summit, he said.

Aside from security, Chakthip also said the government placed importance on traffic, promising to have minimal impact on commuters.

However, Wireless Road from Ploenchit to Sarasin junctions would be closed from 6am on Saturday to 6pm on Sunday, according to the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

THE Constitution is being cited to hold both sides of the political spectrum in check, with former junta leader Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha becoming the latest target. Rival politician Piyabutr Saengkanokkul pointed out yesterday that the PM’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday could have been unconstitutional.

Piyabutr, an MP and secretary-general of anti-junta Future Forward Party, yesterday called on Prayut to clarify his position to avoid future complications.

Having been royally endorsed last week, Prayut is now the new prime minister, the MP pointed out, adding that the new PM working with the old Cabinet will cause confusion.

With a new Cabinet yet to be formed, the politician said Prayut has two choices: he either appoint an acting-PM to work with the outgoing ministers or quickly form a new Cabinet.

“I believe the Constitution drafters did not envisage that the setting up of a new Cabinet would take this long,” Piyabutr said. “There can be legal complications if Prayut and his decisions at the [Tuesday] Cabinet meeting are scrutinised. There is an overlap between the incoming and outgoing Cabinets.”

Future Forward Party also launched a motion in the House of Representatives yesterday about the same Cabinet meeting.

Its MP Wirat Pantumaphol argued that last week’s royal endorsement had removed Prayut from the premier’s position installed by the National Council for Peace and Order.

Hence, he said, according to the Constitution, his pre-endorsement Cabinet had also subsequently expired.

There should be no Cabinet meetings until the new ministers are in place, Wirat said, adding that the Constitution also prescribed that each ministry’s permanent secretary will complete administration duties until Cabinet seats are filled.

However, House Speaker Chuan Leekpai cited a clause in the Constitution, which allowed the outgoing Cabinet to continue working until a new batch replaces them.

In addition to this new challenge to Prayut, dozens of newly elected MPs are being scrutinised for allegedly holding shares in media companies – an act prohibited by the Constitution.

Of the 41 MPs facing scrutiny, 27 are affiliated with Phalang Pracharat.

The rival camp is waiting to see if the pro-junta MPs will be suspended from Parliament like Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit had been over the same allegation.

Meanwhile, Phalang Pracharat lawyer Tossapol Pengsom went to Constitutional Court yesterday to get a copy of the charges. He said the party will first launch a battle against the possibility of the 27 MPs getting suspended from Parliament, as that will affect the government’s work.

A legal team is examining the names proposed by parties in the pro-junta coalition on whether they are qualified to serve in the Cabinet, he said.

Prayut’s statement yesterday on the new Cabinet came amid a brewing conflict within the coalition leader Phalang Pracharat Party whose MPs from the Northeast and southern constituencies are demanding their pound of flesh.

General Prayut is about to cut off his ties with the military when the ruling junta – the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – makes way for the new cabinet. He is considering taking on the leadership of the Phalang Pracharat. A legal team is looking into possible risks for Prayut should the party face legal trouble that could lead to dissolution. “Take it easy, I have my legal team looking into this matter,” Prayut said in response to queries.

Prayut dismissed criticisms of his claims while taking power after the 2014 coup that he was not keen on parliamentary politics while some have expressed apprehensions of his ability to deal with politicians. “Well, I have been in this position for five years and managed to fix many problems to move the country forward,” Prayut told reporters. “What I have done over the past years are good and bad. I’m not born to be the premier but I have learned a lot.” The general claimed his government had done better than civilian governments. The junta chief said Thailand is now a democratic country, and hence he has to listen to all views and opinions, especially the new generation.

“I don’t blame anybody. This is a democratic world, the students can express their opinions about politics but they should focus on doing their duty rather than waste time talking too much about politics,” he said, referring to students’ political expression through pedestal trays when they paid respects to their teachers during Teacher’s Day last week.

Besides taking over the leadership of the Phalang Pracharat, observers believe Prayut would need to keep the Defence portfolio to secure the military’s support, as his mentor and comrade-in-arms Prawit Wongsuwan might not be able to take the position in the new cabinet due to his poor health.

“It would be wrong if I take two positions [PM and Defence]. I’m not worried about that since our military has strong discipline”, he said, declining to answer questions on whether Prawit would stay in the new cabinet.