Abhisit - Must Have Regrets

[francist]

After following the political situation in Thailand for the past 8 years, 1 thing to me is clear. Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice. Not only to uphold law and order in the kingdom, but as a political strategy. Throwing the book at the PAD would have improved his image with the Thaksin crowd and would have provided him with some breathing space to implement policies to increase his popularity with the same crowd. Instead - he has done nothing. His inaction has simply re-affirmed the suspicion that he is in cahoots with the PAD and other 'invisible hands'. Abhisit has wanted nothing more than to become PM, he had his chance and he must regret what he did with that chance. I am not for or against any party - but nothing annoys me more than Abhisit talking in his Oxford English accent talking about the importance of law, order and justice. If Abhisit wants any chance of a future - he must bring both PAD and UDD to justice with the full extent of the law. People need justice! I would guess the fastest growing political standpoint in the country right now is one of cynicism and apathy. Your thoughts?

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I don't think intensifying the prosecution of PAD for the airport takeover would have done anything to quell the dissent of the UDD. This is something that could have been worked out in negotiations, but the UDD seems to be in an "all or nothing" position. They want nothing less than the dissolution of parliament, the resignation of Abhisit and new elections, and all of them immediately.

[francist]

I don't think intensifying the prosecution of PAD for the airport takeover would have done anything to quell the dissent of the UDD. This is something that could have been worked out in negotiations, but the UDD seems to be in an "all or nothing" position. They want nothing less than the dissolution of parliament, the resignation of Abhisit and new elections, and all of them immediately.

History repeats.. this is exactly what the PAD wanted - only worse. They wanted a resignation without a fresh election. You might be right, the die hard UDD are probably never going to change their mind. It's the fence-sitters that Abhisit could have wooed with some real action on the PAD. I'm guessing if an election were held now, the Democrats would get a less of a vote than last election. If I were Thai - I don;t think I'd vote at all!

[rixalex]

Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice.

You seem to be confusing the role of the government with the role of the judiciary.

Also, the terribly slow progress of the cases against the yellows is not unique, it is very much the norm i'm afraid.

[francist]

Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice.

You seem to be confusing the role of the government with the role of the judiciary.

Also, the terribly slow progress of the cases against the yellows is not unique, it is very much the norm i'm afraid.

I obviously wasn't implying that Abhisit should conduct the trial himself. But as the leader of the country he should have expedited the whole thing - not just for justice, but for his own popularity. Just look at the efforts that are being made to get the Red leaders.

[rixalex]

Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice.

You seem to be confusing the role of the government with the role of the judiciary.

Also, the terribly slow progress of the cases against the yellows is not unique, it is very much the norm i'm afraid.

I obviously wasn't implying that Abhisit should conduct the trial himself. But as the leader of the country he should have expedited the whole thing - not just for justice, but for his own popularity. Just look at the efforts that are being made to get the Red leaders.

Yes i agree with you although i question how much of this is within his remit.

As far as the red leaders are concerned, yes noises are being made but how long do you think it will be before they are stood in front of a judge being tried?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Also there are the mixed messages; Abhisit most definitely has his days where he is very reasonable, bordering common sense even. But then right the next day, some of the more rabid dogs around him, very much including his sprokesperson Thepthai and of course the old dinosaur Suthep then start their hawkish hate speech. If Abhisit would man up a little and show that he's in charge AND has a plan then I'd respect him a lot more.

As a PM he's no worse than most though. (Note that the bar is not very high on that one. ) Before he became PM people had Obama like expectations of him. Obama (after a slow start) is beginning to deliver; I don't see this with the Abhisit government, which is very much Yet Another Weak Coalition government of the type that seems the norm in managed democracy.

[scorecard]

Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice.

You seem to be confusing the role of the government with the role of the judiciary.

Also, the terribly slow progress of the cases against the yellows is not unique, it is very much the norm i'm afraid.

Agree,and more:

- You can't speed up one case, or selected cases, because it's poltically expedient. That just makes more evidence for lack of equality, lack of respect for the judicial process, lack of respect for the independance of the judiciary and it's processes.

- What seems to be forgotten (perhaps deliberately ignored) again and again, several Yellow shirt people have answered summonses, been released on bail and the cases are in process, and slow, and there are numerous other cases with all sorts of colour affiliation which are also slowly going through the process.

[scorecard]

Also there are the mixed messages; Abhisit most definitely has his days where he is very reasonable, bordering common sense even. But then right the next day, some of the more rabid dogs around him, very much including his sprokesperson Thepthai and of course the old dinosaur Suthep then start their hawkish hate speech. If Abhisit would man up a little and show that he's in charge AND has a plan then I'd respect him a lot more.

As a PM he's no worse than most though. (Note that the bar is not very high on that one. ) Before he became PM people had Obama like expectations of him. Obama (after a slow start) is beginning to deliver; I don't see this with the Abhisit government, which is very much Yet Another Weak Coalition government of the type that seems the norm in managed democracy.

Suggest you do another analysis of what the Abhisit/korn government have been doing and give them some credit.

Unfortunately their achivements have received little fanfare, and rightly or wrongly I'm guessing that's the way PM Abhisit wants it. Whether thats untimately a good move is still in the melting pot.

[scorecard]

Abhisit should have brought the Yellow Shirts to justice.

You seem to be confusing the role of the government with the role of the judiciary.

Also, the terribly slow progress of the cases against the yellows is not unique, it is very much the norm i'm afraid.

I obviously wasn't implying that Abhisit should conduct the trial himself. But as the leader of the country he should have expedited the whole thing - not just for justice, but for his own popularity. Just look at the efforts that are being made to get the Red leaders.

Yes i agree with you although i question how much of this is within his remit.

As far as the red leaders are concerned, yes noises are being made but how long do you think it will be before they are stood in front of a judge being tried?

It will happen, but the timing is unknown.

When there is an election and if the PT win and therefore arsiman jatuporn veera weng and more become ministers and they engineer the return of thaksin (which is their one and only objective) then I forcast that there will be further massive public outcry which will then force them from office.

[clausewitz]

the first week Abhist took power he had a morning press conference and announced that his first priority was to bring about a national reconciliation.

He announced in the same meeting that he would make sure that the PAD protestors who took over government house and the arports would be punished.

As a show of his sincerity on these issues , he announced on the same day , in the afternoon that his new Foreign Minister would be PAD spokesman Kasit Promiya.

He was also adamant about the protest carried out by PAD that the goverment should dissolve the house:

Dispute over whether to dissolve Parliament

By The Nation Published on September 2, 2008

"During the joint sitting of the House and the Senate in Parliament on Sunday, Opposition and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on Prime Minister Sama

k Sundaravej to dissolve Parliament. Sacrificing MPs would unlock the crisis and return power so voters could decide the outcome again."

http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/09/02/pol...cs_30082196.php

Democrats not being opportunistic by nominating Abhisit as new Thai PM

TNA 12 September 2008

Thailand's opposition Democrat Party denied being opportunistic in nominating its party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as prime minister after the caretaker coalition government failed early Friday to appoint a new government leader due to the lack of a quorum in the House. ...

Thais are now killing each other and there are signs that more will be killed. There should be no more negotiations," Mr. Abhisit affirmed.

Asked about his response if the ruling People Power Party dissolved the House, he said the Democrats had proposed a House dissolution from the beginning. "How to do it depends on the situation."

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=6233

Abhisit calls for House dissolution

By The Nation Published on December 3, 2008

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday urged for House dissolution on the ground that a snap election will allow a fresh start to form a viable government to tackle the political and economic woes. ...

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30090130

[rixalex]

Also there are the mixed messages; Abhisit most definitely has his days where he is very reasonable, bordering common sense even. But then right the next day, some of the more rabid dogs around him, very much including his sprokesperson Thepthai and of course the old dinosaur Suthep then start their hawkish hate speech. If Abhisit would man up a little and show that he's in charge AND has a plan then I'd respect him a lot more.

As a PM he's no worse than most though. (Note that the bar is not very high on that one. ) Before he became PM people had Obama like expectations of him. Obama (after a slow start) is beginning to deliver; I don't see this with the Abhisit government, which is very much Yet Another Weak Coalition government of the type that seems the norm in managed democracy.

In terms of the progress Abhisit is making in general terms, one most take into consideration the massive drain on his time and resources that all this protest nonsense is having. It would be interesting to see what he could do were he given a chance to get on with running the country, rather than trying to prevent meltdown.

[MiG16]

this may be a different angle of putting the topic title, but I still dont see anything more than a discussion of the current political crises - whether or not to dissolve parliament, whether or not Abhisit's government are practicing double standards in dealing with the red shirts vs the yellow shirts protesters, etc etc.....

as we have been requesting for the past many weeks now, and also in the pinned temporary policy at the top of forum page - please do not start more threads to discuss the ongoing political stalemate.

we are not trying to curtail discussions. On the contrary, we want everyone to get as much information as possible, and have a good exchange of views. Hence the request to have discussions consolidated onto a limited few threads, so that they have the most comprehensive background, developments and views

on that note, Im closing this one.

regards