Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, of Thailand, speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok on Thursday. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters)Thursday, July 10, 2008
By Seth Mydans
International Herald Tribune (Paris, France)
BANGKOK: Thailand's latest try at democracy is being severely tested by street demonstrations and a barrage of court cases, just five months after a military junta handed back power through a parliamentary election.
On Thursday, the foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama, was forced to resign because of a nationalist furor over a centuries-old dispute with Cambodia regarding ownership of a 900-year-old Hindu temple on their common border.
In contemporary terms, the temple dispute has become a vehicle for growing pressure on the government as the divisions that led to a coup in September 2006 have begun to resurface.
The government recently survived a no-confidence vote, and there is now talk of bringing impeachment charges against it. Newspapers are already publishing hypothetical scenarios for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's resignation or replacement and for a new round of elections. Sundaravej, who is accused by his critics of being a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, brushes aside the challenges and says he is here for the long haul.
Street demonstrations like the ones that preceded the 2006 coup have been held almost daily for more than a month. They are being led once again by the People's Alliance for Democracy, an unaffiliated opposition group, which has become an almost institutionalized street opposition.
Now there is a new player in the political scene - the courts - with activist roots that go back to the annulment of an election won by Thaksin a few months before he was ousted in the coup.
Although the election last December produced a government with strong ties to Thaksin, the courts have become a political counterweight, bringing cases against current and former cabinet ministers, as well as against Thaksin himself.
In addition, the various constitutional bodies created to monitor corruption, elections and the law, which were largely co-opted by Thaksin, have swung back in the other direction and are mostly under the leadership of people who supported his ouster.
Noppadon was the second cabinet member to be forced from office this week because of a court verdict. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court disqualified Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap from office for violating asset-disclosure rules.
Noppadon was a close associate of Thaksin and was once his personal lawyer. His resignation Thursday came two days after the Constitutional Court found that he had violated the Constitution by reaching a compromise agreement with Cambodia without due consultation.
Also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court convicted another of Thaksin's associates, Yongyuth Tiyapairat, of electoral fraud and banned him from politics for five years. Tiyapairat, a former speaker of the house and an executive member of the pro-Thaksin governing party, the People Power Party, had earlier been convicted of vote buying in the December election.
If the Election Commission finds that he was acting in his party capacity in the electoral fraud, the party itself - like Thaksin's former party, Thai Rak Thai - could be forced to dissolve, creating a government crisis.
Also last week, the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Watana Asavahame, chairman of one of the government's coalition parties, when he failed to appear in court to hear a verdict on a charge of corruption.
Thaksin himself is the target of a number of cases on charges of corruption and abuse of power and faces several crucial rulings this month.
In February, he returned from self-imposed exile, spent mostly in London. Since coming back, he has kept a low political profile despite having close ties to people in power. He is in the news mostly for his management of the English soccer club Manchester City, which he bought while in exile.
Thaksin's political future has been the subject of debate since he was overthrown. His connections, his electoral popularity and his huge wealth seem to point the way toward renewed political dominance. But as the leaders of the coup appear to have intended, Thaksin could be crippled for some time by a battery of court cases against him.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard the first witnesses in a trial of Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, on charges stemming from her purchase of land in Bangkok while he was in power.
Later this month the Attorney General is scheduled to decide whether to prosecute them on charges of failing to properly disclose stock holdings.
In addition, the Supreme Court must decide this month whether to proceed with charges against Thaksin and 47 former cabinet ministers accused of breaking the law in setting up a lottery system. Three of the accused are members of the current government and could be forced to resign if the case proceeds.
On July 30, the Supreme Court must decide whether to hear charges that Thaksin's government illegally gave soft loans to the government of Myanmar in order to benefit the giant telecommunications company he owned. The day after that, a criminal court will rule in a tax evasion case against Thaksin's wife and her brother that could result in heavy fines or possible jail terms.
On Thursday, the foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama, was forced to resign because of a nationalist furor over a centuries-old dispute with Cambodia regarding ownership of a 900-year-old Hindu temple on their common border.
In contemporary terms, the temple dispute has become a vehicle for growing pressure on the government as the divisions that led to a coup in September 2006 have begun to resurface.
The government recently survived a no-confidence vote, and there is now talk of bringing impeachment charges against it. Newspapers are already publishing hypothetical scenarios for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's resignation or replacement and for a new round of elections. Sundaravej, who is accused by his critics of being a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, brushes aside the challenges and says he is here for the long haul.
Street demonstrations like the ones that preceded the 2006 coup have been held almost daily for more than a month. They are being led once again by the People's Alliance for Democracy, an unaffiliated opposition group, which has become an almost institutionalized street opposition.
Now there is a new player in the political scene - the courts - with activist roots that go back to the annulment of an election won by Thaksin a few months before he was ousted in the coup.
Although the election last December produced a government with strong ties to Thaksin, the courts have become a political counterweight, bringing cases against current and former cabinet ministers, as well as against Thaksin himself.
In addition, the various constitutional bodies created to monitor corruption, elections and the law, which were largely co-opted by Thaksin, have swung back in the other direction and are mostly under the leadership of people who supported his ouster.
Noppadon was the second cabinet member to be forced from office this week because of a court verdict. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court disqualified Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap from office for violating asset-disclosure rules.
Noppadon was a close associate of Thaksin and was once his personal lawyer. His resignation Thursday came two days after the Constitutional Court found that he had violated the Constitution by reaching a compromise agreement with Cambodia without due consultation.
Also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court convicted another of Thaksin's associates, Yongyuth Tiyapairat, of electoral fraud and banned him from politics for five years. Tiyapairat, a former speaker of the house and an executive member of the pro-Thaksin governing party, the People Power Party, had earlier been convicted of vote buying in the December election.
If the Election Commission finds that he was acting in his party capacity in the electoral fraud, the party itself - like Thaksin's former party, Thai Rak Thai - could be forced to dissolve, creating a government crisis.
Also last week, the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Watana Asavahame, chairman of one of the government's coalition parties, when he failed to appear in court to hear a verdict on a charge of corruption.
Thaksin himself is the target of a number of cases on charges of corruption and abuse of power and faces several crucial rulings this month.
In February, he returned from self-imposed exile, spent mostly in London. Since coming back, he has kept a low political profile despite having close ties to people in power. He is in the news mostly for his management of the English soccer club Manchester City, which he bought while in exile.
Thaksin's political future has been the subject of debate since he was overthrown. His connections, his electoral popularity and his huge wealth seem to point the way toward renewed political dominance. But as the leaders of the coup appear to have intended, Thaksin could be crippled for some time by a battery of court cases against him.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard the first witnesses in a trial of Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, on charges stemming from her purchase of land in Bangkok while he was in power.
Later this month the Attorney General is scheduled to decide whether to prosecute them on charges of failing to properly disclose stock holdings.
In addition, the Supreme Court must decide this month whether to proceed with charges against Thaksin and 47 former cabinet ministers accused of breaking the law in setting up a lottery system. Three of the accused are members of the current government and could be forced to resign if the case proceeds.
On July 30, the Supreme Court must decide whether to hear charges that Thaksin's government illegally gave soft loans to the government of Myanmar in order to benefit the giant telecommunications company he owned. The day after that, a criminal court will rule in a tax evasion case against Thaksin's wife and her brother that could result in heavy fines or possible jail terms.
5 comments:
Look at your own blood! Myama, Khmer, Malay, Laos, Mone, Karen, San; may be it time to free ourselves from Siame parasite!
The news media should be more specific to print "Khmer built Hindu styled temple" not just "Hindu temple".
Especially Thai news The Nation and Bangkok Post are very bias against Cambodia.
Please rather print "Hinu temple" say "Khmer-built Hindu styled temple".
i think even mr. noppadon knew better not to disagree with the court of law, i mean the icj verdict of 1962 that is! he's a lawyer; he knows better than the pad thugs and their croonies. don't sweat mr. thaksin, mr. noppadon, mr. samak, cambodia will note you in our history book as knowing the international laws better than your opponents, the pad thugs, and the other thieves and gangster out there in your country. you all can come to exile in cambodia, if you want and if you have no other place to call home. we welcome cambodia supporters like you all. we love you long time. god bless cambodia.
Thailand is having many problems internally. The political unrest in southern thailand is still unsolved. Those ethnic people down south wanted autonomy. Sinawatra is charged with corruption. soon, khmer people in surin and buriram will protest for their indepence as well. The karens, mons and loas wanted their land back. what will happen to thailand? doome day will come soon.
No the Khmer Leu loves their government and they will not protest to try to split Thailand into bits and pieces. They are not the same as the monkey in Cambodia.
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