‘Chamber of deception’ for House tops list of monikers devised by Parliament press

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2023
‘Chamber of deception’ for House tops list of monikers devised by Parliament press

After the press corps on the Government House beat, now reporters covering the Parliament have announced their entertaining monikers for politicians in 2023. The best of the bunch went to the House of Representatives, which was branded the “chamber of deception and play”.

The names were announced on Wednesday in a long-held tradition in which the press comes up with monikers lampooning notable figures for their deeds over the past year.

The House earned its title this year due to Pheu Thai Party’s antics while forming a government, where it deceived its former partner Move Forward, shunting it aside to tie up with members of the previous military government.

The Senate, meanwhile, was labelled “Taek P waiting to retire”. The label was a play of words from last year’s label “Tra P” or the stamp of Ps representing the initials of former premier General Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy General Prawit Wongsuwan. The two generals, who were behind the 2014 coup, had installed the Senate.

While the word “Tra” means stamp, “Taek” stands for broken. The reporters said the military-appointed 250 senators no longer voted the same way as they did under the auspices of Prayut. Most of them had voted for Srettha Thavisin as premier, even though Prawit had abstained.

The reporters said the incumbent Senate is scheduled to complete its six-year term in May 2024, so the words “waiting to retire” were added.

Top nominee

Meanwhile, the House Speaker-cum-Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha was dubbed “Wan nominee”.

The reporters explained that Wan Noor ascended to the top legislative post as Pheu Thai nominee, amid rows between it and its then-partner Move Forward.

Senator Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, meanwhile, received the witty label “Jaew Lob, Job Laew”, meaning “it’s done for the shirking servant”.

“Jaew” is a popular name for a maid, and Pornpetch is seen as a servant for the military junta.

Now, the reporters said, Pornpetch believes has no role to play or “job laew” now that an elected government has taken over. The senator also avoids confronting the authorities or giving interviews, and would simply wait for his term to end in May next year.

Meanwhile, Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon earned the solemn title of “opposition leader in the House” thanks to his recent endorsement by His Majesty. The reporters reckoned they could not lampoon the royal appointment.

Setting star

Former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, meanwhile, was crowned “Twilight Star of the Year”, for navigating an election win but being suspended as MP for holding shares in a now-defunct media firm, iTV.

The statement of the year, meanwhile, was given to former Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew’s long explanation on why the party had to jettison Move Forward to form a government.

He said: “We absolutely agree that the Move Forward should have been the coalition leader. We are the second-largest party, so we are happy to join hands with Move Forward. Had it not been because of this Constitution, we would not have joined up with Move Forward to try and set up a government from the beginning.

“As the second party, we could have competed against Move Forward to form a government under a normal political situation and a normal charter. But we thought this kind of charter required us to cooperate with Move Forward. However, it turned out that we were wrong. The tighter we held on to Move Forward’s hands, the most unlikely it became that a government would be formed.”

Farcical voting

The political event of the year went to the election of the prime minister. The reporters said it took two rounds of voting to elect the country’s premier, not counting the aborted attempt to renominate Pita as the PM candidate.

Senators and MPs from the previous coalition bloc cited Parliament meeting regulations to block the renomination of Pita on July 19 after he failed to win enough votes on July 13.

It was only in the second voting session on August 22 that Srettha was elected Thailand’s 30th prime minister.

Thailand Web Stat