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“…it bodes ill for Thai democracy”
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24 June 2008
In the last few days, this excerpt from the Bangkok Post is the most intelligent (and perhaps the only intelligent) thing I’ve read in the newspapers about the current political situation:
Bangkok Post Oped contributor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, said… “It bodes ill for Thai democracy that a limited and narrow street-based movement has the upper hand in overthrowing an elected government,” he said.
I think it’s common sense to understand that if the system is so frail that a newly elected government can publicly seem to be brought to the brink of dissolution 5 months after the election by a group of street protesters who “do NOT want to run the Country, hence not putting forward any plans to do so” then the system is in serious trouble.
The system in Thailand has given us an ineffectual corrupt government that has so little support that it has been painted into a corner by 5 guys who know how to organize street protests but offer no program aside from ‘get the bastards out’.
The PAD did the same thing two and a half years ago, and the ultimate result of their actions was that the military took over the country, appointed an ineffectual caretaker government, replaced the 1997 constitution with a deeply flawed document, and in the democratic election that followed we found that the country had traded in Thaksin for Samak.
Again, all the signs “bode ill for Thai democracy”.
The fact that I think the PAD are not the answer doesn’t mean that I support the government of the day… Samak is an idiot and possibly a criminal. His ministers are inexperienced and ineffective. Of course, that’s part of what happens when you ban 111 of the most experienced politicians (including most of the ministers from the previous government) from contesting elections.
But it’s not enough for the PAD to simply say the current government sucks and the electoral system in Thailand is broken. Again… we went down that road in 2005-06 with the result that the country is weaker today than it was then.
Personally, lacking any better plan I would like to see the Thai government system given a chance to work. I don’t mind the fact that the PAD is protesting… but now they seem to protest for the sheer fun of it. They helped achieve significant things that put pressure on the government within the system, then became petulant and demanded that the government resign.
Again, my question would be: “to be replaced by what?”
The legal systems, given time, have the opportunity (not the guarantee) of working.
1. The electoral commission has leveled charges in the Supreme Court that could lead to the dissolution of three parties that form the coalition government. (Personally I think that the penalty of dissolution is too drastic — killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer — but that’s another discussion). These are active cases that are in the process of being considered.
2. In answer to calls from some for a “National Unity Government” the Democrats (the opposition party) have answered that they do not want a National Unity Government… they believe they can effectively manage as an opposition party, and they want the legitimacy of democratically elected governments to be protected — most likely so that they can claim the same legitimacy when they win a future election. I would have thought most people from countries with a tradition of democracy would support this idea.
3. When the government tried to amend the constitution (a move that I agree with, but others see as simply self-serving) the pressure brought to bear by the opposition, the press, the public opinion and the PAD led to the delay of any effort to amend the constitution. In other words, the government backed down.
4. The Democrats demanded the right to challenge the government in parliment during the current session. Due in part to the pressure from the PAD the government had to back down again and allow 2 days for the Thai form of “question time”, followed by a debate on the Democrats’ no confidence motion.
5. The Democrats have gone on record as opposing the dissolution of the current government. Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thuagsuban said the country had spent a lot of money to hold the general election and the current government has been in power for less than five months, so dissolving the Lower House would be “senseless”.
These are all systems that are WORKING to put pressure on the government. In America or Australia (where I have lived previously) these systems would be given a chance to operate… they would be supported by the public as part and parcel of the democratic process.
But democracy in Thailand is frail. In fact, the model of representative government may not be the best system for selecting a government in the Land of Smiles, but it is the current system.
Street protests have helped the Democrats achieve many solid victories in the parliment and senate in recent weeks, but the PAD is not content to see the systems of government offered the chance to work. They have become almost childish with their demands that the only thing that they will accept is the resignation of the current PM and his government.
It’s the same mentality that has led to 18 coups in 76 years of constitutional monarchy… if you don’t like the current government, overthrow it.
In countries like England, Australia, New Zealand and America (along with many many others) people will rail against the government, but it’s the stability of the system — the faith in the courts, the checks & balances, and the political system itself — that allows people to wait for the next election to put things right (or to take more immediate action through actions such as no confidence votes, double dissolution votes or impeachment trials).
Why does the current situation “bode ill for Thai democracy”?
Because it shows that people DO NOT have faith in those systems or in the political process.
But seven decades of “if you don’t like it, overthrow it” has left Thailand a politically immature and crippled nation with little sense of how to improve.
Groups like the PAD should be working closely with opposition party (the Democrats) to build strategies which allow the opposition to take over the government by using the existing political systems instead of bemoaning that the systems don’t work.
We’ve seen great examples (detailed above) of how the political process in Thailand CAN make progress if it is given a chance, but heady with recent success, the PAD has started to lose the plot and undermine the system instead of supporting it.
The PAD, you, and others can say the current government stinks (a sentiment I agree with). But to demand its resignation, its dissolution or a military takeover is simply irresponsible unless there is something on the table — a plan for how to improve.
This is just an English language blog in Thailand. No one in the government is going to change the way they do things as a result of what we write, but it’s just plain silly to shout loudly that something is broke if there are no ideas on offer about how to fix it.
That’s why the PAD, in it’s current state of mind, is dangerous. It is attacking the government successfully. But unlike the Democratic Party, which seems to have a plan and a strategy for using the political system to improve Thailand, the PAD is simply a force of divisiveness at the moment.
Having supported the Democrats and won several good victories against the government, the PAD should shout loudly about the victories, and go back to barracks until the situation demands attention again. Simply raising the stakes to a level that offers no compromise is bad for the country.
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