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PM's accusations show a lack of understanding of democratic principles, says a major Thai-language daily
KAMOL HENGKIETISAK
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was the subject of a Thai Rath editorial criticism again after he remarked that the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) opposed the government's effort to amend the constitution because the PAD feared the government would amend Article 63, which guarantees the right of peaceful assembly. He also accused the coup's Constitution Drafting Assembly of including Article 63 in this constitution to destroy the country.
Mr Samak's blunt accusation shows that he does not understand the basic rights of the people under a democracy, said the writer. Mr Samak hasn't changed his attitude in the 30-some odd years since he condemned labour activists who demonstrated for wage increases and better benefits as being a "street gang." Recently he also condemned the protesting PAD as a "street mob."
If Mr Samak had studied the evolution of the Thai constitution, he would know that peaceful assembly is a fundamental right guaranteed in various Thai constitutions starting from the 1974 Constitution, Article 43 of which states: "People have the right to peaceful assembly without bearing arms. This right cannot be violated unless it is decreed otherwise in a legal act."
The 1997 constitution, which Mr Samak's People Power party (PPP) says is the best ever, also copied the content of Article 43 from the 1974 Constitution into its Article 44, which was in turn copied into Article 63 of the present constitution, noted the Thai Rath editorial.
All these articles guaranteeing freedom of expression are modelled after the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which expressly prohibits the US Congress from making laws that infringe upon the freedom of speech or the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceful assembly or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The right to peaceful assembly has been enshrined in Thai law for at least 34 years, and clearly not written into the 2007 Constitution for the purpose of destabilising the country as alleged by Mr Samak. No sound government would consider amending the constitution to abolish such a right. If the Samak administration plans to amend or abolish this clause, the Thai Rath writer predicted that the government would see opposition not only from the PAD, but from the general public as well.
Better strategy for charter amendment
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| Security guards for the People's Alliance for Democracy led about 20,000 protesters to the Democracy Monument where they spoke out against attempts by the People Power party to amend the charter last week. |
There is no definitive list from the government of clauses it wants to be amended in the 2007 Constitution, even though Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has broached the subject of amending the Article 63, which concerns the right of peaceful assembly, wrote a Matichon editorialist.
Chusak Sirinin, PM Office Minister and the government's legal expert, has yet to reveal the constitution amendment blueprint, saying he is waiting for the House working committee on this issue to arrive at a conclusion.
However, Samart Kaewmeechai, the government's chief whip, proposed that the amendment process must be taken step by step, starting from the most problematic clauses concerning the election of MPs and senators.
The Matichon writer agreed with Mr Samart's approach, saying that it would receive cooperation from all coalition partners and would not be opposed by the opposition Democrat party.
The recommended steps are:
1. Change large constituencies with several MPs into smaller ones with one MP for one constituency.
2. Change the regional representation of listed MPs to countrywide representation.
3. Abolish the appointment of senators - all must be elected.
Amending only the clauses that make the 2007 Constitution less democratic would take away any excuses for the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to attack the government. At the same time, this would isolate the PAD from the Democrat party, which would then find it hard to oppose such an amendment.
The Matichon writer predicted that the PPP would adopt this strategy because it knows that the Samak administration and the PPP will not last much longer. These steps will make it easy for the party, under another name, to come back and win a new general election.
Strategic retreat
The Samak administration and the People Power party (PPP) are facing problems all around, said a Thai Rath writer, the main one being that they have been in power for too long. Even though they have administered the country for only six months, the PPP is, in essence, a reincarnated TRT party.
If Mr Samak is open minded and considers all factors, he will see that when there are severe conflicts within society that the government cannot control or lessen, the best way out of the situation is to transfer power to other parties.
This way would help to solve the country's internal conflicts and allow the new administration a chance to guide the nation's ship through the turbulent times. This would be a true sacrifice to benefit the nation and the people.
What's more, it makes strategic sense. Stepping out of the power circle to regroup and refresh is the best way to ready the party to return to power in the future.
The writer argued that he was not speaking against democracy by not supporting the party that won the general election. He said he wished that parliamentary democracy would continue by transferring power peacefully to another political party instead of being interrupted by a coup, so that the resulting calming political environment would benefit the country's development and the people.
He considered the PPP to be suffering a lot of damage, and if it persists in fighting, it's likely that it would be broken apart and quality party members would be kept out of politics for quite a while.
The future is bleak for the party as all escape routes have been shut.
The only way out for the PPP is for Mr Samak to resign and let the opposition party form a coalition government, something the PPP opponents would never expect to happen.
The Thai Rath writer concluded that if the PPP is confident they represent the majority of the people, they will see that temporarily retreating from power does not mean that the party will lose power permanently. It would be a strategic retreat so that the party can strengthen and return with even more popular support, reiterated the writer.
Advisory team to lay framework
Post Today reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee would invite the new government economic advisory team for a meeting with the economic cabinet soon to map out an economic policy.
Duangmanee Wongprateep, Bank of Thailand (BoT) assistant governor on financial policy, said the BoT felt no pressure to work with the government's advisory team headed by Dr Virabongsa Ramangura, as the economic policy must be looked at from several angles.
The previous week, Dr Virabongsa gave a talk criticising the BoT for having driven the country to the brink of bankruptcy during the failed defence of the baht in the so-called Tom Yam Gung crisis in 1997, and predicted that the BoT would lead the country to ruin again if it bull-headedly went ahead with tightening monetary policy by raising the repurchase rate (the benchmark interest rate).
Ms Duangmanee remarked that it would not be easy to increase investor confidence in the country's economy as there were several factors that were beyond control.
Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Pataraprasit said Dr Virabongsa need not resign from directorship of private companies even though he was appointed chairman of the economic advisory team, because the law does not require this.
As for the concern of leaking secret information from cabinet meetings, Mr Pradit did not believe this would happen as Dr Virabongsa had been a minister several times and should know how to conduct himself honorably. Furthermore, the advisory team can only give advice, not manage any government business.
Mr Pradit concluded by saying that critics should give the advisory team time to work before criticising its performance.
Miscellany
On Tuesday the cabinet approved the appointment of the economic advisory team to shore up confidence in its handling of the economy.
Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said on Wednesday that their role is to advise the cabinet and it is not mandatory for them to attend cabinet meetings regularly.
Besides the chairman, Dr Virabongsa, the other members include Narongchai Akrasanee, a former commerce minister; Kanit Saengsubhan, director of the Fiscal Policy Research Institute; and Poramathee Vimolsiri, an adviser to the National Economic and Social Development Board.
Their appointment drew criticism of possible conflicts of interest, as Dr Virabongsa and Mr Narongchai hold active roles in several private firms.
It was suggested that these companies could benefit from the inside knowledge gained.
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