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A House meeting had to be adjourned yesterday after a war of words broke out after the opposition started asking why Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had visited the Four Seasons Hotel during working hours last week.
In fact, things became so disorderly that the Speaker had to call on the security to escort defiant MPs out of the chamber, and about an hour later, the chairman adjourned the meeting.
The battle started when Democrat Samut Songkram MP Rangsima Rodrasami asked what the premier was up to at the hotel when she should have been attending a House meeting.
House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont responded by saying that Yingluck could not answer because she was away on a mission and that her deputy General Yuthasak Sasiprapha would speak on her behalf.
The prime minister is on a five-day tour on flood prevention and mitigation in the lower North and Central region, which will wrap up today.
Rangsima, seeming reluctant to pose the question, said Yuthasak might not be able to answer on Yingluck's behalf, especially if the meeting in question had resulted in a conflict of interest or if it did not directly concern the country.
Somsak then said that queries brought up on the House floor should not be of a personal nature and that Rangsima already knew that Yingluck had excused herself from the House meeting.
The House Speaker then said that Rangsima had been informed from the very start that Yingluck would not be present to answer queries on the agenda, so it was pointless arguing about the premier's presence.
A battle of words started when government chief whip Udomdej Ratanasathien said that Deputy House Speaker Visut Chainaroon had told him that Rangsima already knew that Yingluck would not be attending, yet she insisted on raising the question.
The Democrats immediately rose in defence as Rangsima insisted that her question was not of a personal nature. She also stated that she would not go to a hotel alone like Yingluck had done.
Somsak then asked Rangsima to withdraw this comment, but the Democrat MP refused.
"If Rangsima does not withdraw [the comment] and does not pose a proper question, I will have to drop this line of query," the Speaker said.
Many Democrat MPs then stood up to voice their disapproval of Somsak's co-mment, and refused to sit down when ordered. The Speaker then called on security officials to escort the defiant MPs out of the chamber.
However, the Democrats continued attacking Somsak, with party-list MP Issara Somchai shouting: "If you do this, then it becomes a dictatorship. This is the House, not a party meeting room."
In an attempt to calm the situation, Somsak ordered a 15-minute break.
An hour later, Deputy House Speaker Charoen Jankomol adjourned the meeting saying the government and opposition whips should discuss the issue and resolve the problem.
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