THAILAND: Constitutional Court Meets to Deliberate on 8-Year Prime Minister Term Limit of 2014 Coup Leader Gen Prayut

Posted by Asia Views | Sep 14, 2022 | 0 |

ThaiInquirer.com-Sept 14

The Constitutional Court is meeting to discuss General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s 8-year premiership term limit again on Wednesday. The deliberation is the 2nd meeting in as many weeks. The court is looking at the various clauses of the constitution in order to ascertain whether the 2014 coup leader Gen. Prayut is in any breach of the constitution. The opposition filed a petition to say that Gen. Prayut has already completed the 8-year term limit set forth by the 2017 charter. The Constitutional Court on August 24th suspended the role of Prime Minister for Gen. Prayut while it continued to deliberate on the issue. The opposition parties said Gen. Prayut’s term should be counted from August 24, 2014, when he was royally endorsed as Prime Minister under the previous interim charter that was drafted after the coup that Gen. Prayut led and used up until 2017. According to Article 170-2 and Article 158-4, no premier can stay in power for more than 8 years. However, Gen. Prayut and his supporters believe that the term should be counted from April 6, 2017, when he was royally endorsed under the current junta-drafted charter. This means that Gen. Prayut’s term would technically end in April 2025. The court already considered statements from Gen. Prayut and drafters of the 2017 charter including the former chairman of the junta-appointed constitution drafting committee (CDC) Meechai Ruchuphan and Pakorn Nilprapunt, former secretary of the CDC. The court met on September 8 to decide whether they will need more time to interpret the law or more evidence. Read more at: https://www.thaienquirer.com/44158/constitutional-court-meets-to-deliberate-on-8-year-prime-minister-term-limit-of-2014-coup-leader-gen-prayut/

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

THAILAND: Constitutional Court Meets to Deliberate on 8-Year Prime Minister Term Limit of 2014 Coup Leader Gen Prayut

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