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Thailand’s King Dissolves Parliament Paving the Way for May Elections

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Thailand's King Dissolves Parliament Paving the Way for May Elections

Thailand’s king has officially dissolved parliament, issuing a royal decree published in the Royal Gazette on March 20, 2023, paving the way for elections in May.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha countersigned the royal decree, which went into effect immediately. The election date has yet to be determined, but it must take place within 45-60 days.

Sawaeng Boonmee, secretary-general of the Election Commission, stated that the current cabinet, led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, now has limited authority as the head of a caretaker government.

The Pheu Thai party, led by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter Paetongtarn, is mounting a strong challenge to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

General Prayuth, who led a coup against the previous pro-Thaksin government in 2014, has been trailing in opinion polls for months. He and his United Thai Nation party are hoping that there is still enough antipathy for Thaksin among conservative Thais to give him a chance to keep his job.

Thailand’s current constitution was drafted by General Prayuth’s military government following his 2014 coup, making it difficult for the opposition to form a new government.

Almost every poll predicts that the Pheu Thai party will be the largest party again, as it has been in every election for the past 22 years, owing to strong support for Thaksin in the north and north-east.

Some believe Pheu Thai will win an outright majority in the lower house. However, given the enduring hostility toward Thaksin and his allies among conservative royalists and Thailand’s military-appointed senators, this may not be enough.

Thailand

Thaksin-Backed Governments

In the past, judicial rulings or military coups have prevented three Thaksin-backed governments from serving out their terms, including one led by his sister Yingluck. Mr Prayuth has ruled Thailand since leading a coup against Ms Yingluck’s government nine years ago.

Thaksin Shinawatra has been in exile since he was deposed in a military coup in 2006, avoiding a slew of criminal charges, despite the fact that many of his deputies are now barred from politics.

But he’s still there, hovering over this election like a ghost, his 36-year-old daughter becoming the party’s latest face.

Ms. Paetongtarn, Thaksin’s daughter, told the BBC on Friday at an event introducing Pheu Thai’s candidates that she was confident of winning the election by a landslide.

Following the previous coup, the military resolved to end Thaksin’s problem once and for all by rewriting the constitution to prevent his party from gaining power. The military appointed 250 senators, the majority of whom are thought to be loyal to Generals Prayuth and Prawit Wongsuwan, who led the previous coup in 2014.

Pheu Thai was kept out of office in the 2019 election thanks to the senators’ support and a lot of maneuvering. Since then, the two generals have led a fractious conservative coalition.

They now lead their own parties, however, and risk dividing the conservative vote.

The senators can vote on the next prime minister one more time under the military-drafted constitution. Even if the Pheu Thai party wins a majority, the two generals could still form a government with their backing.

However, senators cannot vote on bills or budgets, and any administration that relies on their support cannot function. If Pheu Thai wins more than 200 of the 500 seats up for grabs, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to keep them out of the next government.

In Thailand, no one can rule out another extra-parliamentary move against the preferred Pheu Thai party; not a coup this time, but perhaps another party dissolution by royalist and military courts.

Pheu Thai Thailand

Thailand’s Opposition Targets 310 House Seats

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party recently revised its MP target, aiming for 310 House seats in the next elections — an ambitious increase from the previous target of 250 seats — and forming a solid single-party government. Academics see the move as a major task and tactic to intensify the campaign and eliminate the pro-Prayut camp.

“Pheu Thai is now seeking a popular mandate and at least 310 House seats to depose the Prayut regime and form a Pheu Thai government,” Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew told the party’s general assembly on March 9.

The largest opposition party is aiming to outperform its 2011 election victory, which saw fugitive former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ascend to power. The now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, later renamed People Power Party and Pheu Thai, won a historic landslide victory in the 2005 election, garnering 377 seats.

As a result, analysts have done the math and determined that Pheu Thai’s landslide goal is improbable, even though they agree the party will make more gains in the next election following the reintroduction of the two-ballot system, according to the Bangkok Post.

According to analysts, Pheu Thai’s new MP target is merely a ploy to avoid questions about any post-election alliance with the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and to maintain campaign momentum as the election moves into high gear.

Pheu Thai supporters, on the other hand, believe the party has a good chance of winning a landslide and winning as many as 310 seats. The goal is based on the popularity of the party and its presumptive prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra. In addition, the party is considering strategic voting to help it collect the votes required to prevent Gen Prayut’s return.

Thailand elections 2023

Ending Gen Prayut’s rule

Pheu Thai has used the phrase “landslide” victory from the beginning of its campaign, indicating how serious it is about winning the election and ending Gen Prayut’s rule.

For most people, a landslide means “more than half” of the total number of MPs, or 250 of the 500 House seats. But, as election day approaches, that is no longer sufficient, according to Boonyu Korpornprasert, deputy director of Krirk University’s Institute of Research and Innovation.

According to him, the party is communicating with supporters and possibly undecided voters, and establishing a clear target will have a psychological impact on them.

“Pheu Thai is saying that if people want it to be the government, they must contribute. 310 also sounds better than ‘landslide,’ which is a bit vague. “The number 310 is strong and to the point, whereas ‘landslide’ isn’t compelling enough,” he says.

Mr Boonyu believes Pheu Thai’s new target will not prompt its opponents to use the scare tactic that helped MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the Democrat Party win the gubernatorial election in 2013.

The phrase “if you don’t vote for us, he will definitely win” — with “he” referring to any Thaksin-linked candidates — was used to rally voters to support the Democrat politician.

“This is a unique situation. Pheu Thai is aware that Ms Paetongtarn, Thaksin’s youngest daughter, cannot carry the party far, and has brought in property tycoon Srettha Thavisin to discuss economic issues,” he said.

Pheu Thai has been bombarded with questions about a covert agreement with the PPRP. The agreement calls for the formation of a government and the appointment of PPRP leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon as the next Prime Minister.

Pheu Thai Thailand

Pheu Thai’s 310-Seat Target

People are skeptical that the party will keep its promise to deprive the coup-appointed senate of the power to co-select a prime minister, according to Olarn Tinbangtiew, a lecturer at Burapha University’s faculty of political science and law.

Raising the MP target to 310 can relieve pressure on Pheu Thai and does not rule out a Pheu Thai-PPRP alliance after the next elections, according to Mr Olarn.

“Ms Paetongtarn, Mr Srettha, and Dr Cholnan have all avoided making any commitments. The 310-seat target can deflect the question. But, in my opinion, these people do not have deciding power in the party,” he said.

He believes that Pheu Thai’s larger target will intensify the campaign and that opponents will devise strategies to persuade voters to vote for them.

“Political parties seem to believe there will be no decisive winner and so they have a chance to form a government. “Every party, including the United Thai Nation [UTN] Party, Bhumjaithai, and the Move Forward Party [MFP], has its own support base, and no single party can command a majority,” he said.

According to Mr Olarn, while the political landscape appears to have shifted from conservatives versus liberals to pro-Thaksin vs pro-Prayut camps, every party is intent on pushing populist policies in order to gain voters’ support.

The 310-seat target, which coincides with the defection of the Sam Mitr group to the party, according to Utthaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, is more likely to keep the campaign momentum going.

“People wonder whether a landslide victory can prevent the regime-appointed senate from playing a decisive role in co-electing a prime minister. So the party increased the number to 310, which is still within the realm of possibility,” he explained.

Political polarisation persists, according to Mr Yutthaporn, so intense rivalry should be expected at the election.

According to Phumtham Wechayachai, a Pheu Thai stalwart, the party’s 310-seat target is based on growing public dissatisfaction with the Prayut government and the party’s surge in popularity.

Thailand

People are fed up with the Prayut government, which has been in power for more than eight years and has failed to solve the country’s problems, and they want change, he said.

Pheu Thai has led polls since the beginning, with media outlets and pollsters predicting it will win about 220 seats — 40 through the party-list system and 180 through the constituency system. He claims that as the campaign progresses, the party’s confidence has grown.

Mr Phumtham stated that the party was taken aback by Ms Paetongtarn’s surge in popularity, which increased from 8% at the start of the pre-election campaign to 48% now. In the 2011 elections, her approval rating was higher than Yingluck’s.

“These are factors making us believe we can get to 310 seats. We are definitely getting party-list votes in the southern region, where the party is virtually unknown. “We’ll have to choose the right candidates in the constituency system,” Mr Phumtham explained.

Strategic voting is also important, and the party with the best chance of defeating the Prayut regime is one with strong democratic foundations, he said, adding that undecided voters account for 20%-30% of the electorate, and if they vote strategically, they will vote for Pheu Thai.

“If they don’t vote for us, Prayut will. What chance do they have against Prayut if they don’t want him but vote for other small parties?

“We are the only party that can fight Gen Prayut, and we won’t say it if we’re not confident. The political situation, public opinion, prime ministerial candidates… The 310-plus MP target isn’t too difficult,” he said.

Mr Phumtham dismissed speculation that this strategy might backfire, claiming that pundits have their own theories that may not reflect the views of ordinary people.

Thailand

Anti-Thaksin camp and political skeptics

According to him, the party expects to win 50 of the 100 party-list seats and 260 of the 400 constituency seats. Following the registration of candidates, Pheu Thai will hold its own poll.

According to Sathit Wongnongtoey, a Democrat MP from Trang, while Pheu Thai’s landslide victory has given the party’s supporters reason to celebrate, it has frightened the anti-Thaksin camp and political skeptics.

Pheu Thai is attempting to sell the concept of a unified single-party government to solve problems, which recalls what happened after the Thai Rak Thai Party won a landslide victory in the 2005 election.

He recalls the “tax-free” sale of Shin Corp shares to Temasek Holdings, corruption scandals, street protests, and the 2006 coup that deposed Thaksin.

“People will wonder if the vicious cycle will reoccur,” he predicted.

According to the Democrat veteran, the landslide target has also prompted the return of several Pheu Thai factions, including a Chon Buri-based faction led by Sonthaya Kunplome and a Sam Mitr faction led by Somsak Thepsutin.

Its political opponents will be forced to rethink their strategy, and the campaign will be intense, with Pheu Thai drawing the most criticism, he predicted.

If voters in the northeastern region support Thaksin, they are advised to vote for Pheu Thai in the party-list system, but never for candidates who fail to engage with the community.

“The 310-seat target was devised by Pheu Thai as a strategy to encourage people to vote for winners and make their vote count. But it also frightens rivals and skeptics, who may band together,” he says.

According to Mr Sathit, capturing 310 House seats will be difficult for Pheu Thai, in part because the party has internal schisms.

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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

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Trudeau's Gun Grab
Trudeau plans to purchase 2,063 firearm from legal gun owners in Canada - Rebel News Image

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.

The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.

This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.

The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.

In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.

Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened

“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.

Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.

Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.

In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.

An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.

Enforcement efforts Questioned

By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.

“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).

The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.

The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.

“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.

Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem

Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.

“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.

Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.

Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.

“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.

“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

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Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

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(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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