By Frank G. Anderson
Column: Thai Traditions
UPI Asia
Nakhonratchasima, Thailand — As the holiday season approaches and Christmas carols, holiday decorations and retail sales all steadily increase, pressure against Thailand's ruling Democrat Party seems to be maintaining a steady course.
Accused of bribery, malfeasance, incompetence, foot-dragging, lack of accomplishments, sleeping (usually figuratively) with the country's elite, and otherwise being a bad political party to lead the kingdom – an assessment with which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen concurs – the Democrats and their party leader, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, are weathering one storm after another, but apparently without any real danger that Parliament will be dissolved.
The big issue was and remains that of the ruins of the Phreah Vihear temple, which used to lie in Thailand but is now in Cambodia. There is also the supposedly undeserved premiership gained by an illegal seizure of government back in 2006 when the Thai military and other elites decided they could not wait to see what happened when forces loyal to and opposed to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were heading for a showdown.
This week, however, another reason for complaint against the country’s political apparatus arose when Election Commission President Apichart Sukatkannon announced that he would be abroad for some time and that his trip would leave him with only three days to consider a 258 million baht (US$7.7 million) bribery case against the Democrats. The case arose from the 2005 general election in which the Democrats were accused of receiving a large donation, through an advertising company, from cement company TPI Polene, violating election rules.
Khun Apichart reassured the people that he would be able to make a fair decision on the case, saying, "Despite the shortage of time, I have studied the case thoroughly and will make my decision based on that." He also stressed that he was not under any political pressure from either the Democrats or the pro-Thaksin political parties to decide one way or another.
Another member of the Election Commission tried to douse the potential fires of discontent by stressing that the commission president's preference to dismiss charges against the Democrats were only his opinion and that the rest of the commission had not yet agreed with that course. She added that the case, in her opinion, should not be referred to the Constitutional Court.
The commission member also told the media that the Election Commission was more or less acting as a public prosecutor only, and that if any decision was to be made to dissolve the Democrat Party, that decision would have to be made by the Constitutional Court.
The likelihood of the Democrat Party being dissolved is near zero. The party passed its golden anniversary three years ago, and around that time also escaped being dissolved in a case of alleged election fraud. In 2006 the party was cleared, by the junta that overthrew Thaksin, of bribing other political parties to boycott the year's general elections, forcing the Thai king to finally declare the elections undemocratic. In that case, the Thai Attorney General's Office had found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
Founded as royalist and still so aligned, the Democrat Party enjoys the favor of a core of Thailand's elite and much of its pro-democracy electorate. If anything will prove to be the party’s undoing it is its own weakness in administration and governance – a reality the Democrats have been living with since inception. The party's main leaders are generally accepted as being comparatively honest and well-intentioned, but are seen as indecisive and more of a "go with the flow" party than one that offers decisive leadership.
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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
Accused of bribery, malfeasance, incompetence, foot-dragging, lack of accomplishments, sleeping (usually figuratively) with the country's elite, and otherwise being a bad political party to lead the kingdom – an assessment with which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen concurs – the Democrats and their party leader, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, are weathering one storm after another, but apparently without any real danger that Parliament will be dissolved.
The big issue was and remains that of the ruins of the Phreah Vihear temple, which used to lie in Thailand but is now in Cambodia. There is also the supposedly undeserved premiership gained by an illegal seizure of government back in 2006 when the Thai military and other elites decided they could not wait to see what happened when forces loyal to and opposed to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were heading for a showdown.
This week, however, another reason for complaint against the country’s political apparatus arose when Election Commission President Apichart Sukatkannon announced that he would be abroad for some time and that his trip would leave him with only three days to consider a 258 million baht (US$7.7 million) bribery case against the Democrats. The case arose from the 2005 general election in which the Democrats were accused of receiving a large donation, through an advertising company, from cement company TPI Polene, violating election rules.
Khun Apichart reassured the people that he would be able to make a fair decision on the case, saying, "Despite the shortage of time, I have studied the case thoroughly and will make my decision based on that." He also stressed that he was not under any political pressure from either the Democrats or the pro-Thaksin political parties to decide one way or another.
Another member of the Election Commission tried to douse the potential fires of discontent by stressing that the commission president's preference to dismiss charges against the Democrats were only his opinion and that the rest of the commission had not yet agreed with that course. She added that the case, in her opinion, should not be referred to the Constitutional Court.
The commission member also told the media that the Election Commission was more or less acting as a public prosecutor only, and that if any decision was to be made to dissolve the Democrat Party, that decision would have to be made by the Constitutional Court.
The likelihood of the Democrat Party being dissolved is near zero. The party passed its golden anniversary three years ago, and around that time also escaped being dissolved in a case of alleged election fraud. In 2006 the party was cleared, by the junta that overthrew Thaksin, of bribing other political parties to boycott the year's general elections, forcing the Thai king to finally declare the elections undemocratic. In that case, the Thai Attorney General's Office had found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
Founded as royalist and still so aligned, the Democrat Party enjoys the favor of a core of Thailand's elite and much of its pro-democracy electorate. If anything will prove to be the party’s undoing it is its own weakness in administration and governance – a reality the Democrats have been living with since inception. The party's main leaders are generally accepted as being comparatively honest and well-intentioned, but are seen as indecisive and more of a "go with the flow" party than one that offers decisive leadership.
--
(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
3 comments:
More than half of Thailand's land used to lie in Cambodia but is now in Thailand. What does the author have to say about that?
Obviously this author is a moron with bias views and most likely doesn't know the real history of the Khmer empire/Cambodia which most of the now-a-day Thailand was part of.
Frank
Maybe it's time for you to stop smoking those free marijauna and opium. It could mess with your head!
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