It's time for regime to relax grip

It's time for regime to relax grip

There is not another country in the world using this tiny amount of four-year-old grenades and bullets to delay or halt democracy. (Bangkok Post file photo)
There is not another country in the world using this tiny amount of four-year-old grenades and bullets to delay or halt democracy. (Bangkok Post file photo)

Once again the military government seems to be finding every excuse to try to curtail political parties and their ability to start mustering support ahead of the planned elections in less than a year from now.

The government had promised earlier this year that after the funeral of King Rama IX in October the political stranglehold that has been in place ever since the 2014 coup would be relaxed to allow political parties to meet and prepare for possible elections in November 2018.

Parties have not had the freedom to gather or hold meetings for nearly four years and desperately need to decide key issues such as party leadership and executives, plus what message they need to send out to the public. They are also supposed to give updated membership lists within 90 days of the enactment of the political parties law that went into effect in October. But alas this cannot be done as parties are not allowed to meet.

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

The government has said it would allow this to happen even if it meant using the powerful Section 44 to let parties contest elections, but one has to ask if that is the right way to pursue democracy.

Prayut Chan-o-cha's government seems content to ban any political freedom and to hold on to power as long as it can. It has been using every small excuse to try to avoid the opening of Pandora's box.

Parties waited in vain as the initial promise of allowing more political freedom after the mourning period came and went -- and then came the promise of possibly more freedom in January 2018.

Now the January 2018 promise seems to be in doubt after the find of some arms and ammunition in Chachoengsao. The arms cache is supposedly linked to a hard-line group of red shirts led by Wuthipong "Ko Tee" Kochathamakun, who reportedly fled to Laos over lese majeste charges but is feared to be dead after being abducted by an opposing group.

The arms included five M16 assault rifle rounds, 37 training bullets and about 100 grammes of C4 explosive, which were found in a pond, according to Chachoengsao police chief Teerapol Jindaluang. In a bush across the road from the paddy field, officers also found two boxes of M79 grenades containing 50 in total.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said he was told by police that the weapons were left recently and remained functional. He also said he had received intelligence reports that some groups of people had begun to form political movements.

Gen Prawit, who was also the defence minister when such allegations were used to crack down on the red shirts in 2010, said: "As there are still activities like this, the lifting of the political ban may not be possible. It may have to be done when the election is nearer."

I would be surprised if anyone can name one other country in the world where five M16 rounds, 100g of C4 explosive and 50 M79 grenades could actually change the political landscape. If that was the case, then countries like India, Indonesia and the Philippines would have governments falling regularly because terror groups in these countries possess far more weapons than what Thailand's leaders are fearful about.

Then there is the question of why were these weapons found now, nearly four years after they were reportedly supposed to be used. Why would any political party shoot themselves in the foot when they know that the political ban is about to be lifted and could lead to what these people have been seeking ever since the coup of 2014?

But then these men in uniform seldom use their brains to think before opening their mouths and prefer to make loud noises as a scare tactic.

About a month or so ago, Gen Prawit came out with some innovative thinking that reflects the mindset of his colleagues. He said the political ban could be lifted as long as political parties do not criticise the work of the military government.

The very political parties that he says are behind all the problems of this country are not to criticise the failure of the military installed government. Maybe Gen Prawit should consider this question: If the government's work has been so good as not to be criticised, then why is its popularity on the decline?

The regime should stop thinking that the people of this country are a bunch of fools. It should live up to its promise of allowing democracy to start to flourish and allow elections to take place. If they are held on Nov 30, 2018, that it is only 363 days away.

Umesh Pandey

Bangkok Post Editor

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

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