Showing 1 - 10 of 13
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.
Thailand's judiciary faces challenges
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/05/2024
» Thailand appears to be a country of 70 million, ultimately ruled by an unelected few. This sobering reality was on display when two connected groups of top generals seized power from democratically elected governments in September 2006 and May 2014. Unlike these blatant military coups over the past two decades, at issue now is the power and role of the judiciary. While Thailand has another democratically elected civilian government under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the question that needs to be asked is whether the country is effectively under judicial rule.
Thai charter court deserves scrutiny
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/08/2023
» Amid the volatility and confusion during the interim since the May 14 election, Thailand's Constitutional Court has further thickened the plot by accepting a petition to rule on whether a parliamentary vote using the meeting rules to deny the renomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat's premiership was unconstitutional.
Thai elections without democracy
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/07/2023
» Although it may come across as dramatic and unprecedented, Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s ordeal in trying to take office as prime minister after winning the May 14 election is par for the course in Thai politics over the past two decades.
Thai charter changes without reform
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/06/2021
» In view of the ongoing parliamentary debate about constitutional revisions, it has become the consensus that the 2017 charter is flawed and in need of change. At issue is the nature and extent of charter amendments. What is being proposed can be categorised into three positions -- those favouring amendments without fundamental reforms and others who want reforms with all necessary amendments, with some advocating measures in between. Owing to the powers of incumbency, status quo proponents aligned with the coalition government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha are likely to carry the day, thereby stoking political tensions to manifest on the horizon.
Prayut government seems bullet-proof
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/05/2021
» The passage of time shows the government's growing lack of accountability. In fact, the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears the most unaccountable on record because it has been the most incompetent. Myriad charges from policy mismanagement and blatant irregularities to outright constitutional violations have been levied against the government but none have stuck. Although some attribute this phenomenon to Gen Prayut's "Teflon" qualities, a more accurate understanding may well be that his cabinet is somehow bullet-proof. Charges can stick but they cannot penetrate.
Ruling adds to popular grievances
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/12/2020
» Anyone who has wondered or insinuated that the student-led protest movement for Thailand's fundamental reforms must somehow be sponsored by some foreign government or politically motivated agents at home need look no further than the Constitutional Court's unanimous decision to clear Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of violating the 2017 charter by staying in army housing after retirement. In a 9-to-0 verdict, the nine-member bench sided with an army regulation over charter stipulations. The controversial verdict will exacerbate Thailand's political polarisation and add to popular grievances that are backing the student-led reform drive.
Prime Minister Prayut's huge little gaffe
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/08/2019
» While Thailand's flawed 2017 constitution was bound to run into a fundamental dispute at some point, the sudden and brewing charter crisis facing the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stems from an unlikely source. During the oath-taking ceremony presided over by Their Majesties on July 16, the Gen Prayut-led cabinet somehow omitted one-third of a statement which was mandated to be read aloud before officially taking office. What should have been a routine constitutional ritual has become a procedural gaffe that has captured national attention, putting government stability at risk and the prime minister's political longevity in doubt.
Woeful Senate will worsen political woes
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/05/2019
» Since it first took office in 1947, Thailand's Senate has mostly comprised appointees as mandated by more than a dozen constitutions over the past seven decades. Only in the 1997 and 2007 charters was the Senate elected and half elected, respectively. The 2017 constitution has reverted to a wholly appointed upper chamber but this time the 250-member Senate has been given wider authority, particularly the selection of the prime minister.
Taking Cambodia's bogus election to task
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/08/2018
» It was always a foregone conclusion that Cambodia's incumbent government of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) were going to win the July 29 election. Yet some observers anticipated a modicum of feigned legitimacy whereby a handful of smaller parties would gain a few seats in the National Assembly. Not bothering with any semblance of legitimacy, the CPP has apparently claimed all 125 parliamentary seats. Cambodia now has an elected dictatorship, naked and bare, in mockery of what passes as a free and fair election anywhere and in defiance of global democratic aspirations.