Charter court disqualifies Jatuporn
Published: 18/05/2012 at 05:14 PM
The Constitution Court on Friday disqualified Jatuporn Prompan as a Pheu Thai Party list MP on the grounds that his membership of the party was voided when he was jailed.
The court judges voted seven to one to strip Mr Jatuporn of his status as an MP.
The Election Commission on Nov 29, 2011 ruled to disqualify him for not voting in the general election on July 3 last year.
The EC at the time voted four to one to disqualify Mr Jatuporn, a core member of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), who was detained in prison when the election took place and unable to vote.
The commission then forwarded Mr Jatuporn's case to the Constitution Court for final approval.
After the charter court issued its verdict topday about 100 red-shirts who gathered outside the court in a show of support jeered and expressed their disappointment.
Mr Jatuporn, who was in tears, told reporters that he must keep his feelings about being treated unjustly to himself.
"I've always been fighting against injustice and I accept my own fate because the path is not strewn with roses," he said. "I would like to apologise to the people, especially the red-shirt people, for bringing distress to them."
"From now on, I'm a full citizen [with no MP immunity] but my heart is still a red-shirt. I will register with the Pheu Thai Party and will continue fighting against injustice," Mr Jatuporn said.
Nattawut Saikuar, a Pheu Thai list MP and also a UDD co-leader, said the court's ruling had stripped Mr Jatuporn of his MP seat, but not of his "democratic spirit".
"Today, I and my red-shirt brothers and sisters will stand side by side but we'll have to persevere with the pain and allow today's events to make us stronger," Mr Nattawut said.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said even though Mr Jatuporn was now no longer an MP he was still eligible to be appointed to cabinet.
Asked whether Mr Jatuporn was suited to a ministerial post, Ms Yingluck said she personally felt Mr Jatuporn had real capability, and she would have to see how he could best serve the government.
Siriwat Jupamudtha, a coordinator of the UDD in Phayao, said many red-shirt supporters want Ms Yingluck and Pheu Thai to appoint Mr Jatuporn the defence minister.
Mr Siriwat admitted that the court's ruling had an impact on red-shirt people's hearts. They felt sorry that Mr Jatuporn was no longer an MP, but were confident he could still be appointed to the cabinet.
He said Phayao red-shirts wanted Mr Jatuporn to be defence minister to oversee the armed forces.
The UDD coordinator believed Mr Jatuporn's case could be used by opponents to seek the dissolution of the ruling party in the near future.
Pannawat Nakmul, a coordinator of the red-shirt movement in Uttaradit, said the red-shirts hope the prime minister will find a position for Mr Jatuporn to allow him to continue his political work.
Democrat MP for Nakhon Si Thammarat Thepthai Senpong said on his Twitter website that he felt sorry for Mr Jatuporn but stressed that everything must be in line with the judicial process.
Mr Pannawat said it was not easy to find a capable person like Mr Jatuporn and that Ms Yingluck should support him and should not turn away from the UDD co-leader.
He said Mr Jatuporn must respect the court's ruling and refrain from inciting mob rule.
Mr Thepthai believed that after being stripped of his MP status, Mr Jatuporn actually had a stronger chance of being appointed a cabinet minister, and that it would be sooner than expected.
Mr Jatuporn's case would inevitably reflect on the Pheu Thai Party, the opposition MP added.
©bangkokpost
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/294016/charter-court-disqualifies-jatuporn
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