Parliament, 15 Oct – “Nattawut” urges the government to show sincerity in bringing the suspects in the Tak Bai case back for prosecution, saying that “Gen. Pisal” resigned from the Pheu Thai Party as a primary responsibility, but does not know whether he wants to solve the political situation or the country’s problems, pointing out that it is not a personal matter, the political party of which he belongs cannot deny responsibility.
Mr. Nattawut Buaprathum, MP for the Prachachon Party, spoke about the case of General Pisal Wattanawongkiri, MP for the Pheu Thai Party, who resigned from the Pheu Thai Party. He said that even though it is not a matter of the House of Representatives directly, it is a matter of the House of Representatives and the people in the southern region. This matter is a measure of the government’s sincerity, which has been ongoing for 20 years, in bringing the suspects to justice in order to restore justice to the people. The resignation does not affect the prosecution, nor does the state
‘s performance. It does not affect the coordination of the request for punishment. The meeting of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights learned that 2 out of 6 suspects fled the country to Japan and the UK, which have good relations with Thailand and have extradition laws. Therefore, he would like to see the Thai government make the greatest effort to bring the suspects to justice.
‘I see that General Pisal’s resignation is a primary responsibility, which I don’t know if it comes from a sincere desire to solve this problem or if it is done according to someone else’s advice. Therefore, as the opposition whip, I would like the government to be sincere because the Tak Bai case is not a matter of the victims or the losers, but the confidence of the people in the three southern border provinces and the confidence of the whole of Thailand that the state is responsible for crimes committed by the state, not just any individual or any government,’ said Mr. Nattawut.
When asked if
the Pheu Thai Party viewed this as a personal matter, and therefore resigning was considered a shirking of responsibility, Mr. Nattawut said that this matter was not a matter of any individual or political party. Of course, personal responsibility arose through resignation, but he did not know whether he wanted to solve the political situation more than solve the country’s problems. Therefore, he would like to appeal to the Thai government to see more determination and intention in bringing the accused to justice, at least to send a message to the people of the southern border provinces that they had tried their best. However, as a political party, the Pheu Thai Party would have an answer for those who elected them regarding what had happened. The Prachachon Party, as the opposition whip, would use mechanisms to follow up on this matter in order to restore justice to the people, including supporting the legal proceedings at the Narathiwat Provincial Court, mechanisms through various parliamentary committees,
and raising questions in the House of Representatives meeting. However, since this government has only been in office for a short time, the opposition will not submit a request for a general debate or a no-confidence motion in this session. Instead, a request will be submitted for a debate in the next session, in which this issue will be included as one of the issues to be discussed in the government debate.
Mr. Nattawut admitted that the opposition had assessed the situation, in which the case expired on October 25 and all the defendants returned without being prosecuted, but he wanted to send a message that it should not be allowed to reach that date. However, we do not agree with the proposal to extend the statute of limitations because the criminal procedure cannot be done and it will damage the main issue. If the suspects cannot be prosecuted in time, they will be acquitted of criminal responsibility, but political responsibility will not end. Personally, I do not want the situation to escalate any furt
her, so I called on the government to expedite action, such as the negotiations of the Southern Border Peacekeeping Unit, which have not met for several months during the transition from the government of Mr. Settha Thavisin to the government of Ms. Paethongtarn Shinawatra. The message that the cabinet will send to the people from today until October 25 is important for the direction and situation that will occur in the future. Even if General Pisal resigns and no matter what happens, the political party cannot deny responsibility. As a political party, there may be limitations in showing responsibility or solving the problem in a tangible way. Therefore, this matter must be sent to the Prime Minister and the coalition parties in the name of the Thai state to solve the southern border problem because it is a matter that is more than an individual or a political party.
Mr. Nattawut also said that we must not forget that the Tak Bai case was not initiated by the state, but by the people who filed a lawsuit in
court themselves. Therefore, we must look back and see that there are many levels of state officials who cannot deny responsibility. However, right now, we want the highest level of responsibility as the commander of the incident, including the security sector, military, police, and administrative sectors, for what happened that day. As for the responsibility that will follow, there will probably be more details about the perpetrators. But importantly, this incident reflects the thinking of the government at that time and the Thai state in solving the problems in the southern border provinces, which is bigger than legal responsibility.
As for the officers responsible for tracking down the offenders, if the statute of limitations has expired, will they be guilty of neglect of duty or not? Mr. Nattawut said that we will have to wait until that day comes, but from today until October 25, we still want to see the greatest effort. -315.-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agency