Showing 1 - 10 of 209
Deck reshuffle carries risks for Thaksin
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 02/09/2024
» It was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone. That was the incorporation of the Democrats into the Pheu Thai-led coalition to substitute for the fragmented Palang Pracharath Party.
The deepening political turmoil in South Asia
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 15/08/2024
» Violent student-led, Islamist-backed protests in Bangladesh have toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, and mob attacks targeting those viewed as supporters of her secular Awami League party -- in particular, the country's dwindling Hindu minority -- are proliferating. At a time when neighbouring Myanmar is engulfed in violence and the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt remains fertile ground for cross-border terrorism, political upheaval in Bangladesh, two years after the overthrow of Sri Lanka's government, is the last thing India, the regional power, needs.
No happy ending after Sheikh Hasina's downfall
News, Mihir Sharma, Published on 09/08/2024
» It might look like the replacement of Bangladesh's long-serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is a happy ending for a country that seemed to be inexorably sliding towards authoritarianism. After all, Ms Hasina's rule had become so paranoid that she even burned political capital on persecuting Dr Yunus, widely feted for his role in rural development in Bangladesh and beyond. But, although Ms Hasina's exit was overdue, what comes after might wind up being worse.
Cues from Iran on who to vote for
News, Marc Champion, Published on 03/07/2024
» The opposition just won a first round of elections, forcing a runoff in which everything depends on where third-party votes go. No, not in France -- in Iran. You could be forgiven for missing it amid all the excitement over the advance of the French hard right, President Joe Biden's car crash debate in the US and the coming immolation of the UK's Conservative Party. Yet Iran's experience is worth attention, not least as a reminder of what to vote for and why. Iran, to recap, is having a snap contest to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash. Raisi was also being groomed to succeed the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, the unelected post that -- as the title suggests -- matters most in the Islamic Republic.
Govt has a knack for self-sabotage
Oped, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 10/06/2024
» Behind the backdrop of a sluggish economy, Thailand is entering a new phase of political uncertainty that threatens to drive the government into turmoil and plunge the ailing economy into deeper trouble.
Seeking politics of solidarity under Putin's regime
News, Published on 18/03/2024
» In 2013, when I was 13, one of the oldest comedy TV programmes in Russia released a sketch in which a group of musicians performed a version of Queen's I Want to Break Free satirising the country.
Deja vu as charter court weighs MFP ban
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/01/2024
» It is déjà vu in Thai politics this month as Thailand's biggest elected political party and its leader face Constitutional Court verdicts that could lead to a familiar dissolution and ban. At issue is the political future of Pita Limjaroenrat and the fate of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which he led to a stunning victory at the election last May. However the verdicts come out, they might be perceived by pundits as decided by the political winds of the day.
MFP's amnesty bill shouldn't be ignored
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 02/12/2023
» An amnesty bill sponsored by the Move Forward Party (MFP), which aims to benefit all factions involved in political conflicts over nearly two decades, has stirred wide debate.
Tolerating populism for democracy
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/10/2023
» The so-called “super deal” in August that resulted in the return of Thaksin Shinawatra and the formation of the Pheu Thai Party-led coalition government under Srettha Thavisin evidently has its limitations. It appears to be rejected by sections of the conservative old guard who still wants to resort to extra-parliamentary ways and means to undermine Thailand’s delicate parliamentary democracy. Reminiscent of past protests against Mr Thaksin’s brand of populism, a new round of extra-parliamentary political movement has begun in earnest with the petition launched by 99 prominent economists, including former central bank governors, against the Srettha government’s 10,000-baht digital wallet policy.
What's next for post-Thaksin Thailand?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/09/2023
» The formation of a new coalition government under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has closed a two-decade chapter in Thai politics.