Probe on claims junta is seeking party members

By CHITRAPORN SENWONG 
THE SUNDAY NATION

 

RUMOURS ABOUT APPROACHES TO FORMER MPS ADDRESSED, WHILE PRAYUT DEFINES DEMOCRACY

 

THE NATIONAL Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is to investigate speculation that the junta is attempting to recruit former members of the House of Representatives to join a military party, spokesperson Maj-General Piyapong Klinpan said yesterday.

 

This follows the recent revelation by former Pheu Thai MP Somkid Chueakong that that those in power have started contacting some ex-MPs and are negotiating with them to join a military party.

 

Piyapong said the NCPO, junta and government were obliged to administer the country and maintain people’s confidence in them.

 

The NCPO needs to check any speculation and create the “right understanding” with the people, Piyapong said, adding that findings of the probe would be released to the public.

 

At this point, he said, the NCPO would not make counter-claims against anyone.

“We believe that the facts will show themselves and the issue will be relieved afterwards,” said Piyapong.

 

Meanwhile, in his televised address on Friday, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha addressed democracy and spoke about the book “The Digital Economy”, which notes that it is becoming more common for people to avoid exercising their right to vote.

 

The book is by Canadian business executive and author Don Tapscott, who also wrote “Wikinomics” and “Grown Up Digital”.

 

Tapscott notes that in the past 20 years, fewer and fewer people have been exercising their voting rights in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and United States. Countries with 90 per cent turnout in 1992 declined to only 66 per cent in 2012, the author wrote.

 

“In this sense, it can be observed that democracy under a House of Representatives may be outdated in today’s world and has developed into participatory or inclusive democracy,” Prayut said.

 

“What can we take from this book? What will likely happen in the future?”

 

Prayut added that countries around the world had similar political challenges and the larger the population, the more political problems the country had.

 

He urged the public to take Tapscott’s views into consideration and quoted Tapscott as writing that politicians were the core of trust-building among the public, so they needed to be open and just, and communicate facts to the people. 

 

He also said that politicians should be trustworthy and open to people’s opinions and sentiments, and must not violate the basic rights of their citizens. Nor should they wrong or defame others. 

 

“I myself have been trying to do this and have never made accusations against anyone – and I certainly will not retaliate to anyone who has,” claimed the premier.

 

Prayut said Tapscott mentioned responsibility and said people must not support greedy politicians who use money to seek power or personal benefits. There were laws regulating projects to prevent corruption and this problem had to be fixed definitively, Prayut added.

 

The prime minister went on to cite Tapscott as saying that an effective and stable government was derived from the public. The private sector and the people had to help each other to build strong communities, stressing cooperation and mutual support. Prayut claimed that this was similar to his government’s Pracharat (“state of the people”) approach.

 

Prayut then cited the benefit of technology in helping create understanding among the people and enhancing public participation in areas such as budgeting and policy-making. This was another form of public participation in democracy, he said.

 

Last but not least, Prayut stressed, it was transparency that would boost credibility and trust between all stakeholders. This required responsibility and honesty, he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30334655

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-24

Hmmm ... for some reason the old mafia comment comes to mind: "I'd like to make you an offer you can't refuse".

It looks like an obvious case of split personality.....

48 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

THE NATIONAL Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is to investigate speculation that the junta is attempting to recruit former members of the House of Representatives to join a military party, spokesperson Maj-General Piyapong Klinpan said yesterday.

Er...

 

The NCPO is going to investigate if the NCPO is recruiting ex-politicians and then report back to the public.

 

Whaaaaaaat?

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

...in the past 20 years, fewer and fewer people have been exercising their voting rights in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and United States."

Four countries with a notable lack of military-backed, authoritarian coercion in the democratic voting processes.

 

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and Iran...

I can only hope that this proves to be untrue. It may just be a rumour, started by a politician from an existing-party, for his/their political purposes ?

 

Individuals from the military or RTP in Thailand have often pursued political-careers after retirement, but an official junta-backed military-party would go beyond that, and IMO be a clear retrograde step.

 

Time now for 'normal' semi-democratic politics to resume, preferably by November 2018 as recently promised to the world, and with sufficient time to allow a proper run-up for both existing & any new parties.

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“In this sense, it can be observed that democracy under a House of Representatives may be outdated in today’s world and has developed into participatory or inclusive democracy,”

Tell that to the UK House of Parliament, Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic, Germany's Bundestag and Bundesrat and the US House of Representatives,  and see how far you get.

26 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

Individuals from the military or RTP in Thailand have often pursued political-careers after retirement, but an official junta-backed military-party would go beyond that, and IMO be a clear retrograde step.

Yes, it's a tradition but with the passing of certain, significant modifying element, I am sure that the military is now more inclined to be seen as making all the decisions rather than simply being asked to assist when decisions and events appear to be increasingly taking the "wrong" turn.

of course there is going to be a yellow mafia military party. and a red mafia police party, and a ladyboy party. a Toon Bodyslam is going to run for office.

 

And so am I, under the expat's Western Logic and Common Sense party.

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Er...

 

The NCPO is going to investigate if the NCPO is recruiting ex-politicians and then report back to the public.

 

Whaaaaaaat?

it is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing

classic Thainess

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

of course there is going to be a yellow mafia military party. and a red mafia police party, and a ladyboy party. a Toon Bodyslam is going to run for office.

 

And so am I, under the expat's Western Logic and Common Sense party.

I'm secretly funding "The Fresh Black Crab and Somtam Party"......see you at the poll!

2 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

it is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing

classic Thainess

more likely to be a case of the left hand pretending it does not know what the right hand is doing 

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He urged the public to take Tapscott’s views into consideration and quoted Tapscott as writing that politicians were the core of trust-building among the public, so they needed to be open and just, and communicate facts to the people. 

Great to see that Prunella has got himself seriously mixed up and confused by Tapscott's long words. For him to acknowledge that politicians were the core of trust-building  . . . and . . . needed to be open and just, and communicate facts to the people pretty well erects a Berlin Wall between the Junta and Politicians. Talk about opposites! Nearly two days, now, since his elevated words . . . there's just the chance he's wishing Piggy hadn't passed him those Tapscott papers as they were having their pre-meeting dump. He'll soon be seiko this job, pretty blouses and all.

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 20178 yr by Ossy
clarity

This has always been gorilla warfare. They can do it but have legislated against others from developing their parties. Hope the guys from Chiang Rai win big time. What will they do then? Have a coup?