Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://www.politiktoons.blogspot.comand also at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Showing posts with label Noppadon Pattama's resignation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noppadon Pattama's resignation. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Politiktoons No. 27: Thai-Silk
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://www.politiktoons.blogspot.comand also at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Preah Vihear a wake-up call for [Thai] government
July 12, 2008
The Nation
EDITORIALS
The Nation
EDITORIALS
Foreign ministry's arrogance and superior airs led in part to Noppadon's career-ending gaffe
The resignation of Noppadon Pattama from his post at the Foreign Affairs Ministry has set a precedent that could affect the entire government apparatus, including Parliament, which used to enjoy some degree of freedom, especially in its dealings with foreign powers.
Moreover, members of other agencies, including all branches of Thailand's armed forces, were said to be going through their documents, memorandums of understanding, contracts and agreements, to make sure that a document will not come back and haunt them the way it did Noppadon.
According to the Constitution Court, the former minister acted unconstitutionally when he endorsed Cambodia's application to have Preah Vihear Temple registered as a Unesco World Heritage site without first consulting Parliament on the matter.
Many Thai scholars argue that his endorsement and that of the Cabinet undermined Thailand's claim to the disputed land around the temple, which is situated on the Thai-Cambodian border.
Critics were quick to link the endorsement to all kinds of conspiracy theories, including suggesting that it was tied to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's potential investments in Cambodia.
Conspiracy theories aside, what is clear is that Noppadon bit off more than he could chew. He was hoping that by closing the chapter on Preah Vihear, Thai-Cambodian relations in the long run could develop and expand into other areas, be they political, social or economic.
The reason his gamble did not pay off has much to do with the manner in which the sensitive issue was handled. The fact that he overlooked the role of Parliament suggests that Noppadon, and the government for that matter, had little regard for the spirit of the Constitution, which in Article 190 details the role of parliamentarians in determining the course of the country's foreign affairs.
The Constitution Court's ruling against Noppadon was a wake-up call for all - the officials at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, whose elitist attitude and culture of isolation were part of the reason behind Noppadon's downfall, and the parliamentarians who will likely think twice before raising their hands to vote in the future.
As difficult as it may be, the executive branch will have to hand some of its power to the parliamentarians. The thought of some hick MPs debating technical issues related to international relations may give some Foreign Ministry officials the creeps. Surely, some of them must have heard Plato's maxim: "The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
In retrospect, Noppadon came into the post with his talk of putting a "good neighbour" policy into action and so on. He saw the rise of Indochina and believed that the spirit of cooperation was the best way to go about it. But nobody told the young man not to be in such a hurry because his imprudence might come back to haunt him.
The People's Alliance for Democracy and the opposition saw an opening and went for the kill. They did it with no mercy whatsoever. Some of them talked nonsense without relying on facts and historical data on the controversial temple.
We are living in interesting times, indeed. All of a sudden, Thailand's best and brightest at the Foreign Ministry are not good enough to handle the new and multifaceted challenges facing them. They watched Noppadon take Thailand into unfamiliar territory, make a fool of himself and turn the country into an international laughing stock.
Like Noppadon, they will have to get out of their traditional comfort zone and learn a thing or two about national politics and local sentiment. Along the way, it is hoped that they will come to the realisation that they are no better than any one of us.
The resignation of Noppadon Pattama from his post at the Foreign Affairs Ministry has set a precedent that could affect the entire government apparatus, including Parliament, which used to enjoy some degree of freedom, especially in its dealings with foreign powers.
Moreover, members of other agencies, including all branches of Thailand's armed forces, were said to be going through their documents, memorandums of understanding, contracts and agreements, to make sure that a document will not come back and haunt them the way it did Noppadon.
According to the Constitution Court, the former minister acted unconstitutionally when he endorsed Cambodia's application to have Preah Vihear Temple registered as a Unesco World Heritage site without first consulting Parliament on the matter.
Many Thai scholars argue that his endorsement and that of the Cabinet undermined Thailand's claim to the disputed land around the temple, which is situated on the Thai-Cambodian border.
Critics were quick to link the endorsement to all kinds of conspiracy theories, including suggesting that it was tied to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's potential investments in Cambodia.
Conspiracy theories aside, what is clear is that Noppadon bit off more than he could chew. He was hoping that by closing the chapter on Preah Vihear, Thai-Cambodian relations in the long run could develop and expand into other areas, be they political, social or economic.
The reason his gamble did not pay off has much to do with the manner in which the sensitive issue was handled. The fact that he overlooked the role of Parliament suggests that Noppadon, and the government for that matter, had little regard for the spirit of the Constitution, which in Article 190 details the role of parliamentarians in determining the course of the country's foreign affairs.
The Constitution Court's ruling against Noppadon was a wake-up call for all - the officials at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, whose elitist attitude and culture of isolation were part of the reason behind Noppadon's downfall, and the parliamentarians who will likely think twice before raising their hands to vote in the future.
As difficult as it may be, the executive branch will have to hand some of its power to the parliamentarians. The thought of some hick MPs debating technical issues related to international relations may give some Foreign Ministry officials the creeps. Surely, some of them must have heard Plato's maxim: "The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
In retrospect, Noppadon came into the post with his talk of putting a "good neighbour" policy into action and so on. He saw the rise of Indochina and believed that the spirit of cooperation was the best way to go about it. But nobody told the young man not to be in such a hurry because his imprudence might come back to haunt him.
The People's Alliance for Democracy and the opposition saw an opening and went for the kill. They did it with no mercy whatsoever. Some of them talked nonsense without relying on facts and historical data on the controversial temple.
We are living in interesting times, indeed. All of a sudden, Thailand's best and brightest at the Foreign Ministry are not good enough to handle the new and multifaceted challenges facing them. They watched Noppadon take Thailand into unfamiliar territory, make a fool of himself and turn the country into an international laughing stock.
Like Noppadon, they will have to get out of their traditional comfort zone and learn a thing or two about national politics and local sentiment. Along the way, it is hoped that they will come to the realisation that they are no better than any one of us.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Court cases and protests batter Thai government
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.
[Thai] FM Noppadon resigns
July 10, 2008
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama announced his resignation on Thursday following increasing political pressure involving the listing of the Preah Vihear Temple as the world heritage.
The resignation would be effective on July 14, ending his five months and eight days in the office.
"To release people's suffering and for the sake of national unity and reconciliation, the country is more important than my political position, therefore-- although I have done nothing wrong-- I would take responsibility by resigning from the position," he said in a scheduled press conference.
The Preah Vihear temple's world heritage status caused political burden for Noppadon as the opposition, senators and street protest accused him of mishandling and would cause loss of the national sovereignty over the site.
The Hindu temple, ruled by the International Court of Justice in 1962 belongs to Cambodia.
The Constitution Court ruled Tuesday a joint communiqu้ he signed with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to support Phnom Penh's application was unconstitutional.
"With respect to the court's decision, the ruling would set a precedent for legal study. The Foreign Minister has conducted the case in the line with the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs' procedure. Nobody intended to violate the law," he said.
The opposition meanwhile lodged an impeachment of Noppadon to the Senate speaker to begin the process.
Noppadon declined to comment over the impeachment saying that he would follow the legal procedure.
He blamed the opposition and street protesters for fanning out nationalism and anti-Cambodia sentiment for political gain.
"Some certain group even brought such sentiment to harass my elder sister in (my home town) Nakhon Ratchasima," he said.
The sentiment was boosted to create hate and disunity between Thai and Cambodian people, he added.
"As the dust was clear, I'm confident, the truth would appear, as rationale comes to replace sentiment, time would prove what the foreign ministry and I did was the right thing and that we protected territory and national interest," he said.
"I did not betray the nation, I did not hurt the country," he said.
The resignation would be effective on July 14, ending his five months and eight days in the office.
"To release people's suffering and for the sake of national unity and reconciliation, the country is more important than my political position, therefore-- although I have done nothing wrong-- I would take responsibility by resigning from the position," he said in a scheduled press conference.
The Preah Vihear temple's world heritage status caused political burden for Noppadon as the opposition, senators and street protest accused him of mishandling and would cause loss of the national sovereignty over the site.
The Hindu temple, ruled by the International Court of Justice in 1962 belongs to Cambodia.
The Constitution Court ruled Tuesday a joint communiqu้ he signed with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to support Phnom Penh's application was unconstitutional.
"With respect to the court's decision, the ruling would set a precedent for legal study. The Foreign Minister has conducted the case in the line with the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs' procedure. Nobody intended to violate the law," he said.
The opposition meanwhile lodged an impeachment of Noppadon to the Senate speaker to begin the process.
Noppadon declined to comment over the impeachment saying that he would follow the legal procedure.
He blamed the opposition and street protesters for fanning out nationalism and anti-Cambodia sentiment for political gain.
"Some certain group even brought such sentiment to harass my elder sister in (my home town) Nakhon Ratchasima," he said.
The sentiment was boosted to create hate and disunity between Thai and Cambodian people, he added.
"As the dust was clear, I'm confident, the truth would appear, as rationale comes to replace sentiment, time would prove what the foreign ministry and I did was the right thing and that we protected territory and national interest," he said.
"I did not betray the nation, I did not hurt the country," he said.
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