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Thailand’s Pheu Thai allies with military rivals to form new government

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Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai Party has formed a coalition with 10 other parties, including two allied with its former military rivals, in a bid to form a new government and end three months of political deadlock.

The announcement on Monday came a day ahead of a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister and as Pheu Thai founder and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, prepares to return to the kingdom after 15 years in self-imposed exile.

Pheu Thai is expected to nominate real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin as the country’s next leader.

The party came second in Thailand’s May 14 election, but took over the formation of government after conservative members of an unelected upper house blocked attempts by Move Forward – the progressive party that won the vote – from securing the top job for their candidate.

Srettha, 60, a political newcomer, will need the support of 375 legislators, or more than half the combined upper and lower houses of parliament, to be endorsed as prime minister and form the next government.

Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew told reporters that its new coalition has the backing of 10 other parties, including the United Thai Nation Party affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the Palang Pracharat Party of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

Prayuth, a former general, orchestrated the coup that toppled a Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2014. Once in power, Prayuth engineered rewrites of Thailand’s constitution to make it extremely difficult for election winners not favoured by the conservative establishment to form governments.

The Bangkok Post website said the 11-party coalition backing Pheu Thai’s Srettha has 314 votes in the 500-member lower house. Pheu Thai is the largest party in the coalition, with 141 votes.

“We are confident that Srettha will pass the vote,” Cholnan said.

“We must quickly work to restore the economy and come up with policies that will develop mechanisms for the stability of politics, the economy and society,” he added.

Move Forward, which has 151 seats, has said it would not back Pheu Thai’s multiparty effort, arguing it distorted the election result and was against the public will.

Opinion surveys show most Thais disagree with Pheu Thai’s plan for a coalition government that includes Prayuth and Prawit’s parties. The poll by the National Institute for Development Administration, published on Sunday, showed that about 64 percent of those surveyed disagreed or totally disagreed with the idea of Pheu Thai allying with the military-backed parties.

Cholnan acknowledged the political divisions in the alliance but said rival forces had a duty to the public to not delay the formation of a government.

“Throughout this time we faced division with a fair heart and a determination to overcome that division,” he said. “The goal right now is shared responsibility for the sake of the country.”

Thaksin’s daughter meanwhile has apologised to the public on Pheu Thai’s behalf, for failing to keep its election pledge of not joining the military parties.

“We have to make adjustments to keep the country going,” Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Sunday.

“Of course, Pheu Thai has the price to pay, that is the criticism of the people,” she said. “We humbly accept and apologise for making many disappointed and sad.”

The party will work fully to solve the country’s problems if it can form a government, she said, adding that her father’s planned return to Thailand had nothing to do with politics.

The 74-year-old former telecommunications tycoon, who was prime minister from 2001 until he was deposed in a 2006 coup, is expected to land at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport at 9am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday. His arrival will come just hours before the parliament votes for prime minister.

Thaksin, who has lived mostly in Dubai since fleeing Thailand to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, still faces the possibility of prison time.

“Thaksin’s return on voting day shows that he is confident that Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate will be elected in one round,” said Thanaporn Sriyakul, chair of the Political Science Association at Kasetsart University.

The Nation, a local newspaper, citing unnamed sources said on Monday that Thaksin will be arrested as soon as he disembarks from his private jet and will be taken to the Supreme Court and handed over to the Department of Corrections.

“Since Thaksin is elderly, prison doctors will determine if he needs to be under the close care of doctors or not. If he is found to have a chronic condition, doctors will decide whether he should be detained in the prison hospital,” it reported.

“Once inside prison, wardens will consider allowing him to only be visited by close relatives during the initial period of his detention,” it added.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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