I have grave doubts about having a non-elected prime minister.
Constitution Drafting Committee spokesman Gen Lertrat Rattanawanich says we’d have such a person only to defuse “political crises”, which sounds good on paper. But the term is so general as to be meaningless.
If parliament is deadlocked on a minor bill, do we declare a crisis, and choose somebody from outside? When should we dissolve parliament — or would a non-elected PM always be our “out”?
Gen Lertrat says the appointed prime minister’s term would be limited to under eight months.
But looking at our current crisis, deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam says the earliest we’ll have elections will be in February 2016 — which is almost three times longer than the proposed limit.
So, we should go the “outside” route while a crisis is still small, and hence solvable quickly. But do we really want to have non-MP prime ministers so often?
Such frequent changes would greatly reduce the importance of the legislative arm and would be like parachuting in captains every time our ship of state met a rainstorm.
Having a non-elected prime minister raises more questions than it answers.
Burin Kantabutra
Hard to find on shelf
Re: “Gourmet gripe”, (PostBag, Dec 26).
Robin gives a long list of what he/she calls gourmet items, and then says “most of [these] are alien to Thai diets and doubtless relegated to the proverbial bin”.
I don’t know how long Robin has been in Thailand, but I know that most of us expats who have been here 25 years or longer, remember when most of what appears on that list was not available in shops here.
So yes, these items can be considered gourmet, as opposed to what was available when we first arrived.
Never mind the price, it’s the availability that counts.
Charlie Brown
Young must stand up
The NRC and CDC are putting out rules which try to eradicate corrupt politicians and officials in state enterprises and offices. It would be beautiful if they succeed.
On second thought, however, it occurred to me that nothing much is said about rules which try to eradicate corrupt and criminal police (a “community-controlled’’ police force sounds good but could also be too good to be true).
Nothing is said about rules which protect us from corrupt and criminal members of the armed forces or which might protect us from them taking over power again and again.
Nothing is said about protecting us from corrupt and colluding patronage-appointed experts.
Nothing is said about the few dozens of business families which control the economy, cosy up to governments and hold wages and labour rights down.
There is so much in need of reform — and it’s too big a task for the generals and their appointed experts to handle. Finally only the people can help themselves.
They have to wake up and assert themselves.
The Bangkok Post Sunday published an article about the ‘‘rise of the bright young’’. Political voices in their 30s and 40s seem to pop up in quite a few countries in Europe.
The article said “young politicians may be less afraid of breaking moulds, more open to new ways of doing things, less beholden to patronage built up over the years, and more in tune with the language and concerns of more voters’’.
The old ways are not always or necessarily the best. Rings a bell?
Dr Karl Reichstetter
Correction
The photo in the In Quote column on Dec 26 is Vice Adm Thanee Phudphad, not Foreign Minister Gen Thanasak Patimaprakorn. We regret the error.
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