BANGKOK, April 19 (MCOT)- Thailand's joint sitting of Parliament on Tuesday approved by majority vote to withdraw three minutes of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings as proposed by the government, saying the border talks between the two neighbours have yet to conclude.
The joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate voted 240:12, with 86 abstentions and nine absent, agreeing to withdraw the notes of the special panel to study the controversial issue.
There are currently 622 members of parliament -- 473 MPs and 149 senators. At least 312 members are required for a quorum.
The study suggested that the Thai government should speed up talks with Cambodia to move the troops from the disputed area to pave way for border demarcation, as well as to facilitate and help Thai nationals who possess land in the contested area.
House Speaker Chai Chidchob informed the joint sitting the ruling of Constitution Court that the minutes of three JBC meeting have not yet fallen under Article 190, which says any agreement made with a foreign country requires parliamentary approval.
The court said, in this case, there are further border talks to be held to find a solution and conclusion to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, according to Mr Chai.
The court ruling came as a group of 80 Democrat MPs led by Democrat MP Sirichoke Sopha asked it to define whether the three JBC minutes are considered an international agreement under Article 190.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the Thai Parliament has been facing difficulty in considering the minutes. Finally the Constitution Court ruled that the border talks between Thailand and Cambodia have not yet concluded, and should not be raised in Parliament.
Mr Kasit stated the government therefore proposed to withdraw the three JBC minutes and let the concerned agencies to proceed border talks.
The joint sitting agreed by majority vote to withdraw the JBC meeting minutes from consideration, said the minister.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Phnom Penh, and UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied to register the status. Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre strip of land adjacent to the cliff-top temple, with tension along the Thai-Cambodian border being renewed from time to time. (MCOT online news)
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Parliament drops JBC minutes from agenda
Published: 19/04/2011
Bangkok Post
The joint sitting of parliament on Tuesday approved the withdrawal of three minutes of the 2008 and 2009 Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings as requested by the government.
The government made the request after the Council of State issued an opinion that the documents did not fall within Section 190 of the constitution.
The Council of State was asked last week by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to interpret the Constitution Court's ruling last month not to accept a request by lawmakers to rule on the need for parliamentary approval.
A group of 80 Democrat MPs led by Songkhla MP Sirichoke Sopha filed the request to the court through House Speaker Chai Chidchob, the ex officio parliament president, in February.
The joint sitting, chaired by Parliament President Chai Chidchob, approved the government's request to withdraw the three JBC minutes by a vote of 240-12, with 86 abstentions and six "no votes".
There are currently 622 members of parliament - 473 MPs and 149 senators. At least 312 members are required for a quorum.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Prime Minister Abhisit wanted Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti to continue as the government's chief negotiator with Unesco about the disputed Preah Vihear temple.
"If Mr Suwit wants to leave the job he will have to discuss it with the prime minister," Mr Kasit said.
The minister said he was not at odds with Mr Suwit, but they had conflicting ideas at times. All issues concerning Preah Vihear went through the cabinet, not just the foreign and natural resources and environment ministries.
Mr Kasit said he and Mr Suwit talked openly for a few hours yesterday and they had no problems with their differences.
When reporters asked Mr Kasit whether the disagreement came about when Mr Suwit disagreed with the plan to jointly list Preah Vihear with Cambodia as a world heritage site, he said the issue had yet to be resolved.
The minister said he had met with the Unesco representatives and reiterated Thailand's position that the Preah Vihear management plan proposed by Cambodia should be delayed or scrapped because the border negotiations were not finalised yet.
He said the temple management plan, if implemented, would violate the sovereignty of Thailand. If negotiations were not completed first there might be conflict, which would not be unusual.
He insisted that Thailand has not lost any sovereignty at this stage.
The joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate voted 240:12, with 86 abstentions and nine absent, agreeing to withdraw the notes of the special panel to study the controversial issue.
There are currently 622 members of parliament -- 473 MPs and 149 senators. At least 312 members are required for a quorum.
The study suggested that the Thai government should speed up talks with Cambodia to move the troops from the disputed area to pave way for border demarcation, as well as to facilitate and help Thai nationals who possess land in the contested area.
House Speaker Chai Chidchob informed the joint sitting the ruling of Constitution Court that the minutes of three JBC meeting have not yet fallen under Article 190, which says any agreement made with a foreign country requires parliamentary approval.
The court said, in this case, there are further border talks to be held to find a solution and conclusion to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, according to Mr Chai.
The court ruling came as a group of 80 Democrat MPs led by Democrat MP Sirichoke Sopha asked it to define whether the three JBC minutes are considered an international agreement under Article 190.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the Thai Parliament has been facing difficulty in considering the minutes. Finally the Constitution Court ruled that the border talks between Thailand and Cambodia have not yet concluded, and should not be raised in Parliament.
Mr Kasit stated the government therefore proposed to withdraw the three JBC minutes and let the concerned agencies to proceed border talks.
The joint sitting agreed by majority vote to withdraw the JBC meeting minutes from consideration, said the minister.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Phnom Penh, and UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied to register the status. Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre strip of land adjacent to the cliff-top temple, with tension along the Thai-Cambodian border being renewed from time to time. (MCOT online news)
---------------------------------
Parliament drops JBC minutes from agenda
Published: 19/04/2011
Bangkok Post
The joint sitting of parliament on Tuesday approved the withdrawal of three minutes of the 2008 and 2009 Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings as requested by the government.
The government made the request after the Council of State issued an opinion that the documents did not fall within Section 190 of the constitution.
The Council of State was asked last week by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to interpret the Constitution Court's ruling last month not to accept a request by lawmakers to rule on the need for parliamentary approval.
A group of 80 Democrat MPs led by Songkhla MP Sirichoke Sopha filed the request to the court through House Speaker Chai Chidchob, the ex officio parliament president, in February.
The joint sitting, chaired by Parliament President Chai Chidchob, approved the government's request to withdraw the three JBC minutes by a vote of 240-12, with 86 abstentions and six "no votes".
There are currently 622 members of parliament - 473 MPs and 149 senators. At least 312 members are required for a quorum.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Prime Minister Abhisit wanted Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti to continue as the government's chief negotiator with Unesco about the disputed Preah Vihear temple.
"If Mr Suwit wants to leave the job he will have to discuss it with the prime minister," Mr Kasit said.
The minister said he was not at odds with Mr Suwit, but they had conflicting ideas at times. All issues concerning Preah Vihear went through the cabinet, not just the foreign and natural resources and environment ministries.
Mr Kasit said he and Mr Suwit talked openly for a few hours yesterday and they had no problems with their differences.
When reporters asked Mr Kasit whether the disagreement came about when Mr Suwit disagreed with the plan to jointly list Preah Vihear with Cambodia as a world heritage site, he said the issue had yet to be resolved.
The minister said he had met with the Unesco representatives and reiterated Thailand's position that the Preah Vihear management plan proposed by Cambodia should be delayed or scrapped because the border negotiations were not finalised yet.
He said the temple management plan, if implemented, would violate the sovereignty of Thailand. If negotiations were not completed first there might be conflict, which would not be unusual.
He insisted that Thailand has not lost any sovereignty at this stage.
2 comments:
Both constitution court/parliament now admitted that all the lands belong to khmer that why the issues did not need approve by constitution court/parleament.
8:24 AM
where you get the information that they admit dispute area belong to Khmer i watch them debates a lot of theirs MP want their government to drive khmer people out from dispute area they're not much the differences from PAD if they know what is right and what is wrong these day never come.
They said their vote should lead to lost of their territory.
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