By Max Constant
BANGKOK
Thailand's National Legislative Assembly has voted against the impeachment of 248 ex-MPs who supported the otherthrown government of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The 248 were accused of attempting to change the country's political system through a constitutional amendment which aimed to have the then partially appointed Senate fully elected.
If impeached, the former parliamentarians, who lost their positions when the junta abolished the elected National Assembly in the aftermath of last year's coup, would have been banned from political activities for life.
Most members of the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly voted against the motion, defeating it as it needed three-fifths of the 220 members to pass, reported Krungthep Turakit news website Friday without giving the exact breakdown.
Last year, the country's anti-corruption commission had accused the MPs of trying to carry out the amendment with the aim of “overthrowing the democratic regime with the King as head of State” – a local expression to describe Thailand’s political regime.
Moreover, the amendment process had not followed the proper procedures, the commission underlined,
Following the accusation, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled that there were grounds for the claim as the amendment violated Section 68 of the 2007 charter, which “prohibits any attempt to overthrow the monarchy and unconstitutional efforts to seize power”.
How having a fully elected Senate – which was the case between 1997 and 2006 – would constitute an attempt to overthrow the monarchy has never been clearly explained.
The vote against the impeachment motion was expected by some observers as banning the 248 from all political activities would have added to a new round of political tensions, the Bangkok Post reported Friday.
The landscape is currently tense as the junta is facing numerous criticisms for their apparent inability to improve the faltering economy, along with the curtailing of public freedoms, particularly freedoms of expression and assembly.
The senators are seen to be supporters of former premier and Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra – arch nemesis of the military junta and its conservative allies.
The junta is also trying to strip Shinawatra of his police rank of lieutenant colonel, but the process has been dragging on for several months.
