adaptorplug
Bangkok. 2nd February 2014.
General Election, Benjasiri Park Polling Station, Khlong Toei.
Bloke eyes up the election official....
- - - - -
Thais Must Be Allowed To Vote Thailand Risks Becoming a Third Rate Democracy
Editorial. Financial Times.
February 3, 2014.
www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f04779ea-8cce-11e3-ad57-00144feab...
The way things normally work in a second-rate democracy is that, come election time, the incumbent administration prevents a free and fair election. In Thailand, which is fast sinking from second to third rate status, it is the opposition that has done its utmost to scupper the democratic process.
Sadly, the elections held last weekend will do little, if anything, to end the debilitating impasse into which Thai politics has fallen. Not only did the opposition, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, boycott the polls – which was just about its right. It also prevented many other people from voting – which was not. As a result, the poll was disrupted in 11 per cent of electoral districts. Voters were prevented from exercising their right with the threat of violence. Such are the thuggish tactics normally employed by dictatorships, not by self-professed representatives of the people.
In the northeast, stronghold of self-exiled Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, voting went on as normal. The disruption, though, makes it impossible to tally the votes without holding further by-elections. It also means the government will not be able to convene parliament since fewer than the 95 per cent of seats required by Thai law have been filled.
This is not only bad for Thai democracy, it is also bad for the economy. Thai investors have been pulling money out of equities for several months. Tourist numbers have suffered. Consumer and business sentiment have plummeted. The power vacuum could persist for months, meaning it will be impossible for the government to implement a coherent fiscal policy. That puts all the onus on the central bank, which may be forced to cut rates. In an period of Fed tapering, that could leave the currency vulnerable. The economy, originally predicted to grow at 4.5 per cent this year, may struggle to hit 3 per cent.
A succession of governments loyal to Mr Thaksin, who is now resident mainly in Dubai, are far from blameless. The government of Yingluck Shinawatra blundered badly when it tried to enact legislation that would have exonerated her brother of past crimes and paved the way for his return. Its rice-subsidy programme was ill-conceived, too.
Still, if we are apportioning blame, the opposition is much more at fault. Having failed to win an election in more than 20 years, it seems determined to tear up democracy itself. It accuses Ms Yingluck’s government of bribing the electorate. If by that it means paying people to vote on polling day, it should prove those allegations in court. If, rather, it means using the levers of government to reward supporters with rice subsidies or cheap health plans then this is to misunderstand the nature of democracy. Winners of elections reward their supporters. If the policies are bad for the nation, the opposition should contest them in parliament – not in the streets. That is how democracy is supposed to work.
The election commission has been rightly perceived as too keen to declare the elections impossible to hold. Given the forceful turnout in districts where the opposition could not prevent a vote, it is now incumbent on the commission to conclude the poll as swiftly as possible. The courts should not politicise the electoral process and the army should stay in its barracks.
The opposition should also drop its unworkable demands for an unelected council to run the country. If it persists in blocking the democratic process, all that remains is a military coup or a legal putsch. That, one suspects, is precisely what it is hoping for. If that happened, government loyalists, who have mostly shown restraint during the latest crisis, would likely take to the streets themselves. That way lies ruin.
Bangkok. 2nd February 2014.
General Election, Benjasiri Park Polling Station, Khlong Toei.
Bloke eyes up the election official....
- - - - -
Thais Must Be Allowed To Vote Thailand Risks Becoming a Third Rate Democracy
Editorial. Financial Times.
February 3, 2014.
www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f04779ea-8cce-11e3-ad57-00144feab...
The way things normally work in a second-rate democracy is that, come election time, the incumbent administration prevents a free and fair election. In Thailand, which is fast sinking from second to third rate status, it is the opposition that has done its utmost to scupper the democratic process.
Sadly, the elections held last weekend will do little, if anything, to end the debilitating impasse into which Thai politics has fallen. Not only did the opposition, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, boycott the polls – which was just about its right. It also prevented many other people from voting – which was not. As a result, the poll was disrupted in 11 per cent of electoral districts. Voters were prevented from exercising their right with the threat of violence. Such are the thuggish tactics normally employed by dictatorships, not by self-professed representatives of the people.
In the northeast, stronghold of self-exiled Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, voting went on as normal. The disruption, though, makes it impossible to tally the votes without holding further by-elections. It also means the government will not be able to convene parliament since fewer than the 95 per cent of seats required by Thai law have been filled.
This is not only bad for Thai democracy, it is also bad for the economy. Thai investors have been pulling money out of equities for several months. Tourist numbers have suffered. Consumer and business sentiment have plummeted. The power vacuum could persist for months, meaning it will be impossible for the government to implement a coherent fiscal policy. That puts all the onus on the central bank, which may be forced to cut rates. In an period of Fed tapering, that could leave the currency vulnerable. The economy, originally predicted to grow at 4.5 per cent this year, may struggle to hit 3 per cent.
A succession of governments loyal to Mr Thaksin, who is now resident mainly in Dubai, are far from blameless. The government of Yingluck Shinawatra blundered badly when it tried to enact legislation that would have exonerated her brother of past crimes and paved the way for his return. Its rice-subsidy programme was ill-conceived, too.
Still, if we are apportioning blame, the opposition is much more at fault. Having failed to win an election in more than 20 years, it seems determined to tear up democracy itself. It accuses Ms Yingluck’s government of bribing the electorate. If by that it means paying people to vote on polling day, it should prove those allegations in court. If, rather, it means using the levers of government to reward supporters with rice subsidies or cheap health plans then this is to misunderstand the nature of democracy. Winners of elections reward their supporters. If the policies are bad for the nation, the opposition should contest them in parliament – not in the streets. That is how democracy is supposed to work.
The election commission has been rightly perceived as too keen to declare the elections impossible to hold. Given the forceful turnout in districts where the opposition could not prevent a vote, it is now incumbent on the commission to conclude the poll as swiftly as possible. The courts should not politicise the electoral process and the army should stay in its barracks.
The opposition should also drop its unworkable demands for an unelected council to run the country. If it persists in blocking the democratic process, all that remains is a military coup or a legal putsch. That, one suspects, is precisely what it is hoping for. If that happened, government loyalists, who have mostly shown restraint during the latest crisis, would likely take to the streets themselves. That way lies ruin.