An insult to anxious voters

By The Nation

 

Amid a string of election delays, Premier Prayut decides to consult only the immediate stakeholders on the date

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha seems utterly senseless in his continuing efforts to delay the election, most recently proposing to consult some – but not all – of the people and parties with a stake in the outcome about setting a date for the poll.

 

The junta chief clearly doesn’t comprehend that voting for a national leader is a fundamental right of all citizens. He seized power through military might and has never won legitimacy to rule through electoral mandate, and yet continues to hold that basic right hostage as he bargains to cling on to power.

 

In his weekly television address last Friday, General Prayut laid out his current plan. Once all four of the necessary organic laws regarding the election are published in the Royal Gazette, he said, the Cabinet would tell the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to summon political parties, the Constitution Drafting Commission and the Election Commission for a discussion. He did not hint when the organic laws might be passed.

 

“The election date depends on the readiness and agreement of the parties involved,” he said, by which he meant the political parties and two appointed commissions, ignoring the millions of eligible voters whose opinions surely also count. By restricting the consultation only to his inner circle and politicians, Prayut is insulting the populace at large, whose patience is growing thin.

 

Prayut said the election was “important” and spoke again about moving forward “in accordance with the road map”, but in practice, the road map is only a decoy to throw off public perception. The junta has made it clear that democracy isn’t the end goal. It only wants to perpetuate its rule as long as possible. We have lately seen a series of delays in the passage of laws and other legal manoeuvres that have threatened to push the election date further and further away. Prayut, meanwhile, continues to insist that neither his government nor the NCPO have interfered with or directed legislators in a way that would result in the election’s postponement.

 

Prayut last year committed to an election in November 2018, but last month the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) passed an organic bill on the election of members of Parliament that effectively pushed the poll back 90 days – into 2019. Last week the NLA rejected a slate of Election Commission nominees, putting the selection process back to square one and possibly delaying the poll even further. The junta argued that the existing commission can manage the polling if necessary, disregarding the fact that one member will be too old to serve by then, thus hampering the commission’s work. It could potentially give the junta another excuse to stall the voting until a full commission is in place.

 

General Prayut’s credibility is waning with every broken promise and misleading statement regarding the election. Activists and politicians are being rolled into an anti-junta snowball, with attendance at their public events growing every weekend. If the junta gives in to the impulse to crack down on these dissenters, it will only face worse difficulties. Any attempt to undermine critics will backfire.

 

If Prayut really seeks the legitimacy that can assure him a continuing role in politics after the poll, he must set a firm election date and make sure nothing else crops up to cause further delays.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30339759

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-27

1 hour ago, webfact said:

If Prayut really seeks the legitimacy that can assure him a continuing role in politics after the poll, he must set a firm election date and make sure nothing else crops up to cause further delays.

 

I think that Prayut really does crave legitimacy, the problem is that he does not have the ability to attain it. If he and the Junta members believed that they could stay in power legitimately through an election, we would be having an election. The fact that we are not having one tells me that he knows that he would lose.

 

The simple truth is that he is unable to win legitimately. And that has to gnaw at his soul.

 

Prayut craves legitimacy. However, without a victory in a 'free and fair' election process, he will never get it. 

 

End of story...

He has dug his own grave and hung around long past his expiry date. Creating a new constitution is always a good way to delay things after a coup but once its done there is no justification to stay around, especially when your other "laws" are contrary to your constitution.

I believe that Prayuth will continue to delay, delay, delay (through lies and concocted excuses) any 'election' for as long as humanly possible - and then, when it is simply no longer tenable to delay further, he will swing into action with an entirely fake, bogus, rigged election (where everything, including the outcome, is ultimately controlled and stacked in HIS and his autocratic friends' favour).

 

I cannot see a happy ending to any of this. 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Amid a string of election delays, Premier Prayut decides to consult only the immediate stakeholders on the date

 

There is more than one "stakeholder" here? Interesting.

 

 

54 minutes ago, Eligius said:

I believe that Prayuth will continue to delay, delay, delay (through lies and concocted excuses) any 'election' for as long as humanly possible - and then, when it is simply no longer tenable to delay further, he will swing into action with an entirely fake, bogus, rigged election (where everything, including the outcome, is ultimately controlled and stacked in HIS and his autocratic friends' favour).

 

I cannot see a happy ending to any of this. 

These round the table meetings provide excellent scope to ensure there is disagreement enough to continue the delays: 'Sorry, but there is too much factionalism. We can only proceed when we are all in complete agreement', all the while continually moving the goalposts... 

2 minutes ago, baboon said:

These round the table meetings provide excellent scope to ensure there is disagreement enough to continue the delays: 'Sorry, but there is too much factionalism. We can only proceed when we are all in complete agreement', all the while continually moving the goalposts... 

Well said, Baboon! Yes, this ruling mob are geniuses at coming up with idiotic, feeble excuse after idiotic, feeble excuse for delaying the election (which - in any genuine form - they fear more than Dracula fears the crucifix!).

It'll be interesting to see if he insults the press, as well as voters, should he fail, YET AGAIN, to honour the Thursday press briefing that he made quite a 'show' about, earlier this month. He has failed to front a proper press conference ever since his cardboard cut-out master-stroke. And, now that he knows that he's not everyone's cup of tea, facing up to testing questions is probably going to be too much of a challenge for Mr Little-Big-Man.

 
I think that Prayut really does crave legitimacy, the problem is that he does not have the ability to attain it. If he and the Junta members believed that they could stay in power legitimately through an election, we would be having an election. The fact that we are not having one tells me that he knows that he would lose.
 
The simple truth is that he is unable to win legitimately. And that has to gnaw at his soul.
 
Prayut craves legitimacy. However, without a victory in a 'free and fair' election process, he will never get it. 
 
End of story...

You're giving him too much leeway. He and his cronies have adjusted the rules so that a 'free and fair' election can't happen anyway. 1/3 of members will be appointed, not elected.

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3 hours ago, webfact said:

The junta chief clearly doesn’t comprehend

it seems so often that his background is overlooked; he is a military general; he can only think as such;

in his world, there is no opposition, no 'free rights', no back-talk;

focusing on that, it explains some of the foolish things he says and does

19 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

it seems so often that his background is overlooked; he is a military general; he can only think as such;

in his world, there is no opposition, no 'free rights', no back-talk;

focusing on that, it explains some of the foolish things he says and does

It is of course very, very, VERY generous  to call him a General of any kind. He has no talents for anything whatsoever ( he has never even fought in a proper, large-scale war!).

 

 

He doesn't know how to 'win' an election without guns. With his popularity waning of late, his insecurity is becoming more and more apparent.

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He's right (The PM), you cannot have an election when all the candidates are not agreed to ! Of course he fails to mention that he has a big input into that little piece of slight of hand.

1 hour ago, Eligius said:

he has never even fought in a proper, large-scale war!

Has he ever fought in ANY war, large-scale or small . . . other than a couple of coups, of course, in which case the odds were pretty well-stacked in his favour. This is how the 'man' looks . . . alongside a real general.

2 hours ago, Eligius said:

It is of course very, very, VERY generous  to call him a General of any kind. He has no talents for anything whatsoever ( he has never even fought in a proper, large-scale war!).

 

 

By all accounts, he was very "successful" when stationed on the border with Cambodia during their civil war...

20 minutes ago, JAG said:

By all accounts, he was very "successful" when stationed on the border with Cambodia during their civil war...

Yes, I am sure he was OK in a few minor skirmishes. But he prefers throwing his weight and intolerance around at the Thai people!

49 minutes ago, JAG said:

he was very "successful" when stationed on the border with Cambodia

Yes, successful at brag, probably - or its Cambo-Thai version. I'm sure I read, somewhere, that at the Preah Vihear Temple 'trouble-spot', the opposing soldiers were so bored that they met up in the evenings for beer and cards sessions . . . yes, really!

6 minutes ago, Ossy said:

Yes, successful at brag, probably - or its Cambo-Thai version. I'm sure I read, somewhere, that at the Preah Vihear Temple 'trouble-spot', the opposing soldiers were so bored that they met up in the evenings for beer and cards sessions . . . yes, really!

Right! Also consider this: it is very unusual for a person who is a demonstrable, shameless, immoral coward today not to have been one in his earlier years. The tiger does not change its stripes or the leopard its spots - nor the coward his sickly yellow streak!

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The junta chief clearly doesn’t comprehend that voting for a national leader is a fundamental right of all citizens.

Neither did The Nation four years ago when they supported the coup and Suthep. Too little, too late

4 hours ago, Eligius said:

It is of course very, very, VERY generous  to call him a General of any kind. He has no talents for anything whatsoever ( he has never even fought in a proper, large-scale war!).

 

 

He achieved his rank by brown nosing. But to give credit where due he does have some talents. Media entertainer, poet, singer/songwriter, lewd dancing censor, all round good fellow to those receiving his popularity buying handouts, pavement, beach chair and lottery administrator and election organiser to name but a few. 

24 minutes ago, tomta said:

Neither did The Nation four years ago when they supported the coup and Suthep. Too little, too late

Too true. The 'Be careful what you ask for' maxim has bitten us all on the bum, thanks to protest action, then. How will most of the street-marchers feel, now, I wonder, in this 'insult to voters' context?