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Thwarted Thai PM candidate chases support for next vote

Thailand’s liberal reformist leader seeks support for his second attempt at becoming prime minister after facing opposition from military-appointed senators in his initial bid.

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BANGKOK, THAILAND — The liberal reformist seeking to become Thailand’s prime minister said Monday he was marshalling support for his next tilt at the job after military-appointed senators foiled his first attempt.

Efforts to elect a government have deadlocked on parliament’s refusal to endorse the candidacy of Pita Limjaroenrat, whose Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in the May elections.

Establishment lawmakers consider his party’s pledge to reform the kingdom’s strict royal defamation laws a red line and the Harvard-educated politician’s nomination fell 51 votes short last week.

Pita said the eight-party coalition supporting him had agreed to renominate him for a second vote Wednesday, adding he was canvassing senators who did not support him in the first round.

“We still are talking to find more support,” he told reporters.

“There are several who missed the vote because of other duties,” he said. “It is still possible they might vote.”

MFP won nearly 40 per cent of the vote in May’s poll but Pita’s attempt at forming a government was blocked by supporters of the Thai establishment.

Junta-appointed senators oppose MFP’s proposal to soften the kingdom’s royal defamation law, under which offenders can be jailed for up to 15 years.

Just 13 members of the 250-strong upper chamber voted for him last week.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court could also take up a case Wednesday on whether Pita, 42, should be disqualified from parliament entirely for owning shares in a media company, prohibited for MPs under the Thai constitution.

Pita, who made his fortune in a family-run agrifood business, has said the shares were inherited from his father. The station has not broadcast since 2007.

He said Monday he was unfazed by the Constitutional Court case against him the same day as he submits himself to another parliamentary vote.

“It does not affect my candidacy for prime minister,” he said.

The court has also agreed to hear a case alleging that the MFP’s campaign promises to amend the royal defamation laws are tantamount to a plan to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy.

The roadblocks thrown in front of Pita’s candidacy have dismayed supporters eager for progressive reforms after nine years of army-backed rule that followed a 2014 coup.

“What I would like to see is for the senators to respect our votes,” retail worker Preaw Roengsart, 28, told AFP Sunday at a small Bangkok rally for the party.

“I feel like this is it for us. If we don’t come out and speak now our voice will forever be silenced.”

The case has drawn international attention, including from Washington.

“We are very closely watching the post-election developments. That includes the recent developments in the legal system, which are of concern,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, making clear the United States has no preferred outcome in the Thai election.

“We believe this moment is an opportunity for Thailand to demonstrate its commitment to democracy,” he added.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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