It’s all in how you share the cake

By The Nation

 

 

The election outcome won’t settle Thailand’s future, but rather the way the Cabinet is stocked

 

While many are scratching their heads over how to reconcile deeply divided Thais torn apart by their love or hate of certain political figures, the real problem may lie elsewhere. It’s a problem that always hounded Thai democracy even in peaceful times, and it mattered not which side of the polarity held power. It’s the practice of giving away Cabinet posts in exchange for crucial support.

 

The scourge of dividing up the Cabinet “cake” will almost certainly strike again, with the new Constitution giving small and medium-sized parties more leverage and with key rivals juggling bigger stakes than ever before. The horse-trading could reach an unprecedented level, and it all puts at risk politicians’ sworn duty to serve the people.

 

Citizens tend to believe that winning the election is the ultimate goal and the democratic system will cope with whatever stumbling blocks arise thereafter.

 

The truth is that Thai schools are in their present sorry state and are not going to improve anytime soon because the Education minister’s post is always given to disappointed politicians as a consolation prize for having been passed over for a more important portfolio.

 

And the Education Ministry isn’t the only bargaining chip dangled before the lucky charms who pulled in the votes and are expecting rewards. Virtually every ministerial appointment is dictated not by the public interest but by the level of pre-election support the candidates provided.

 

We’ve had a Justice minister who blatantly defied the law and a Science minister who venerated the spirit house outside his office. And then there is the revolving door at the Education Ministry, where appointees with no clue about school reform come and go, in turn overriding their predecessors’ policies so that nothing ever gets accomplished.

 

The new electoral rules could well make matters worse. Small and medium-sized parties can win Cabinet seats if their losing candidates accumulate a big enough share of the national vote to help the lead party cement victory.

 

This notion of giving meaning to the votes that are cast for losing candidates has a certain democratic ring to it, but it also enables parties with no actual mandate or power to play kingmaker.

 

Their increased leverage jibes with the cutthroat battle for power between the big players. If the Pheu Thai Party fails to win in a landslide and needs smaller parties to form a coalition government, for example, Cabinet seats will be open for bidding.

 

If Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Pheu Thai’s main rival, needs 20 extra parliamentary votes to remain in his post, he will be sweet-talking whoever is in a position to help him.

 

Unqualified ministers have plagued the Thai political landscape for too long, the result of sheer nepotism on one hand and on the other the brokering of Cabinet seats to secure power. The frenzied slicing up of the cake leads to inefficiency and often corruption too.

 

Thailand’s much-vaunted return to democracy largely hinges on whether the post-election Cabinet genuinely works for the people’s benefit. If the Cabinet has too many unqualified ministers, the past four years will have been a waste – the coup, the new Constitution and the election itself.

 

Whether we witness a new dawn or more endless twilight will depend not on who wins the election but rather who ends up in the Cabinet. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30355998

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-08

"...Thailand’s much-vaunted return to democracy largely hinges on whether the post-election Cabinet genuinely works for the people’s benefit. If the Cabinet has too many unqualified ministers, the past four years will have been a waste – the coup, the new Constitution and the election itself.

 

Whether we witness a new dawn or more endless twilight will depend not on who wins the election but rather who ends up in the Cabinet..." 

 

The above is wrong; the last four years "will have been a waste" should read "were a waste". Don't believe me? Tell me the great things that have occurred during the last four years: 

 

Education reform? Nope.

Clean up corruption? Nope.

Environmental improvement? Nope.

Thailand grows on the international stage? Nope.

Greater unity among Thais? Nope.

More efficient and effective governance? Nope.

Powerful people forced to obey the law? Nope.

Effective voices nurtured from Civil Society? Nope.

 

What has occurred in the last four years? Stagnation. and the stocking of all levels of government with people who did not have a mandate to be there. Rule by Bureaucracy. Industrialized theft (although that can't all be blamed on the Junta). Massive increase in the powers of the military. Curbing of the Human Rights of Thais. Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

As much as a return to Democracy and decent cabinets are good things, a return to some kind of forward progress is also desperately needed. I do not want to get into the Red/Yellow thing, but I remember back in the early 2000s that Thailand/Thais were eager and confident about the future, daring and dreaming of the challenges ahead. Now, I see heads down and slowly trudging into the future.

 

Countries that trudge into the future ain't gonna do well.

 

Democracy and dynamism are what is required, along with a Cabinet of people who will lead there; is Thailand up to it? That is a HUGE, open question...

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 20187 yr by Samui Bodoh

As most of us well know, politicians, in either suits or uniforms, care little for the well-being of the common citizen and much for the state of their personal bank account. The average Thai knows very well that the next election will be little different from the previous, its about power and money.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

It’s the practice of giving away Cabinet posts

insinuates but not directly said: this practice results in the wrong people in the wrong jobs; lacking meritocracy, you will invariably have incompetent,incapable, uninterested  people in important jobs; thailand, we all, lose

25 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

As most of us well know, politicians, in either suits or uniforms, care little for the well-being of the common citizen and much for the state of their personal bank account. The average Thai knows very well that the next election will be little different from the previous, its about power and money.

Yep.

Seems to be universal the world over.

 

 

Ho Hum.

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

As most of us well know, politicians, in either suits or uniforms, care little for the well-being of the common citizen and much for the state of their personal bank account. The average Thai knows very well that the next election will be little different from the previous, its about power and money.

I said it countless times as long as corruption is not punished harshly and equally then nothing will change. The amount of money to be made when in government is just too big and they will fight for it.

 

Solve corruption, solve a lot of Thailands political problems as the crooks wont be interested anymore as no money can be made.

1 hour ago, YetAnother said:

insinuates but not directly said: this practice results in the wrong people in the wrong jobs; lacking meritocracy, you will invariably have incompetent,incapable, uninterested  people in important jobs; thailand, we all, lose

This process has always been this way in Thailand look at how previous governments changed cabinet posts and how the horse trading went on. Its al related to corruption and money.. nothing more nothing less.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

It’s a problem that always hounded Thai democracy even in peaceful times, and it mattered not which side of the polarity held power. It’s the practice of giving away Cabinet posts in exchange for crucial support.

At the end of the day, Thai democracy simply shows up wearing a different hat.  Under the covers it's same, same and not different.