Showing 11 - 20 of 678
New party under siege
Oped, Editorial, Published on 13/08/2024
» Two days after the Constitutional Court disbanded the Move Forward Party (MFP) and banished its 11 executive committee members from politics for ten years, the remaining 143 MPs who survived the court's axe and some core party members promptly formed a new party -- the People's Party, selecting its new leader and a five-member executive committee.
Beware the court blip
News, Editorial, Published on 12/08/2024
» This week, politics will be particularly intense as the Constitutional Court is set to deliver its verdict on the case brought by 40 senators seeking to remove Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office.
Uncharted territory and a case of déjà vu
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/08/2024
» Another dissolution of another election winner should feel old in Thai politics. But what happened to Move Forward Party is not just déjà vu but uncharted territory. Its dissolution fits a recurrent pattern of systematic subversion of democratic institutions in favour of autocratic preferences in disregard of the will of the majority. The Constitutional Court's breakup of Move Forward also breaks new ground that is increasingly taking centre stage in Thailand's political landscape.
Will Move Forward be stopped for good?
News, Published on 05/08/2024
» Four years ago, on Feb 21, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, the predecessor of the Move Forward Party, and banned its executive committee members from contesting elections for 10 years.
'Olympic truce' for French political chaos?
Oped, Published on 02/08/2024
» France is facing continuing political chaos in the wake of President Emmanuel Macron's vain and failed gambit in calling for unnecessary Legislative elections to counterbalance the expected but riveting results of the rightist surge in June's European Parliamentary voting.
City planning for all
Oped, Editorial, Published on 27/07/2024
» City Hall's attempts to pass a new city planning blueprint to replace one used for a decade have hit repeated snags over the past four years. Such delays have upset commercial developers, who will likely benefit from the proposed changes.
Thailand's spreading rot of irregularity
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/07/2024
» The rot in Thailand's institutional makeup has become so deep, dense and widespread that it can be found nearly everywhere there is controversy. Newly elected Senator Keskamol Pleansamai is the latest case in point. Just about everything that comes with her meteoric rise to the Senate spurs accusations of irregularity and impropriety.
Senate poses risk to political reform
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 13/07/2024
» The political dust has settled, as the new Senate was successfully installed this week. Yet, looking at the components of the upper chamber, a new kind of politics still seems like a distant dream.
Thaksin revels as backstage miscreant
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 08/07/2024
» Out of the blue, the retired national police chief and leader of the Seriruamthai Party, Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, dropped a bombshell that put former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the crosshairs.
Thailand's era of economic stagnation
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/07/2024
» After two decades of political instability and turmoil, it was a matter of time before the Thai economy would exhibit signs of distress and desperation. For decades, the Thai economy has proved resilient with an uncanny knack for bouncing back. But Teflon Thailand may have become a thing of the past. Headlines on the Thai economy have been heading south precipitously. Unless fundamental political reforms take place, Thailand will likely enter a period of low and plateaued growth with risks of grinding stagnation.