An election is imperative

An election is imperative

It is almost a certainty that the end-of-year title of "most unlikely revolutionary" will go to ex-politician, ex-minister, ex-influential figure Suthep Thaugsuban. Mr Suthep's appearances on the various stages of dissenting groups in the past two months have been riveting. But more to the point, they always exposed the faults, problems and lack of ethics of a badly flawed government. Today, he has promised, his campaign will end.

Bangkokians have been asked by Mr Suthep to choose to march this morning at the auspicious time of 9:39. He hopes a great mass of citizens will assemble and show Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and others why they can no longer govern.

All Thais have the constitutional and moral right to gather, demonstrate and appeal to the government. Citizens should consult their consciences and do the right thing. They should, however, determine two points before acting. The first must be, pro- or anti-government, to keep it legal and non-violent. The second is that every action has a reaction, and every political decision _ for or against Mr Suthep's "do-or-die" rally today _ has consequences. One must also consider that the political future of this nation will not be decided in a day, not this day or any other single day.

Mr Suthep's achievements up to now are positive, and even spectacular. He properly marshalled the national revulsion at an arrogant ruling party trying to ram through a repulsive amnesty law simply because it had a parliamentary majority. He properly continued the theme that the government may be untrustworthy on many other issues.

He also strayed far from the democratic path. Mr Suthep may have been a Democrat, but in no way has he recently been a democrat. No one should seriously support his propositions to overthrow the government by force, or for an appointed council to install a prime minister and unelected government, and to purposely abandon democracy for some unspecified time. The opportunities for abuse of power should be obvious.

But Mr Suthep has also exposed the often undemocratic methods of the government. The sanctimony of constant play-nice statements by Ms Yingluck are an ugly contrast to the threats and tactics actually used by her immediate cabinet subordinates and security forces. These antics must stop if the government truly wants to begin political negotiations as she told the country yesterday.

In a special TV address, Ms Yingluck finally issued a long overdue apology for the government's action that triggered the protest. Apart from proposing negotiations that can begin today, she also suggested a referendum as a tool to settle the differences which include Mr Suthep's proposal on the people's council and an interim, unelected government.

Despite the conditions, it is clear that a new election is in order. The government should not, and cannot ethically, continue to serve to the end of its term. A quick election is mandatory. So are the promises from all rival parties to accept the rules of the game to avoid hurting the country more than they are doing now.

The ball is now in Mr Suthep's court. But given his month-long sabre-rattling, and demand for talks, it is difficult for him to envision switching course midway. However, for any negotiations to be possible _ apart from behind-the-scenes bargaining _ it will depend very much on what happens today. Ms Yingluck's responsibility is as great as Mr Suthep's to avoid violence in the protest march. Any violence, any deaths, and the chance to return to normalcy will be killed.

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