Ex Australian Foreign Minister Calls For Australia To Take Lead In Thai Crisis

[jesse89]

Presenter: Linda Mottram

Speakers: Stephen Smith, Australia's Foreign Minister; Alexander Downer, former Australian Foreign Minister

LOPRESTI: Australia has a close relationship with Thailand, how has it reacted to this political crisis?

MOTTRAM: Well it has repeatedly said that the Thai democratic process is going through a difficult time, that the situation is indeed grave and it continues to urge both publicly and privately that all sides show restraint. There's also been expressions of regret from the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister over violence and the loss of life. The last thing that Australia wants to see according to the Foreign Minister is a reversion to military rule in Thailand. The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is traveling in Japan at present, on morning radio this morning here in Australia he was also asked about speculation that Thailand could be headed for civil war:

SMITH: Well I don't want to use a phrase like that which of course would be pejorative but I do want to underline the very grave difficult circumstances that Thailand is confronted with. It has deteriorated significantly in the course of the last week and that is why we have changed our travel advice and why we are constantly monitoring the position. But we do urge the Thai political process to restore order and to resolve these matters in a peaceful way.

MOTTRAM: Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

LOPRESTI: Well given the extent of the threat to Thai democracy and the inability to resolve it over these many, many months now. Are Australia's calls for restraint enough?

MOTTRAM: Well certainly some believe Australia could be doing more, some academics are saying that Australia could play a broker role given its economic influence in the region and its status as a principle democracy. The former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer also believes that there are more practical efforts Australia could be undertaking. Of course the parenthesis there is that we're not sure what's going on behind the scenes. But Mr Downer really echoes what Robert Amsterdam was saying there about the need for a third party role, and the really grave sort of situation with many Thais feeling alienated from the political process. I spoke to Mr Downer a short time ago about what he thinks is needed in Thailand now.

DOWNER: What they actually should do is call a fresh election to lance the boil in Thailand. And of course the government there have been very reluctant to call a fresh election and we all know why they've been reluctant to call a fresh election because they think they'll lose it. They think that again what you might call ordinary working people and small holding farmers in Thailand want to vote for the sort of Thaksin movement, which is extremely popular there. And for as long as they're effectively in practice they're disenfranchised the tension is simply just going to remain I'm afraid.

MOTTRAM: Is there a role then for Australia in trying to encourage a new election more overtly and perhaps even trying to be a broker, a much more public broker in this situation?

DOWNER: Well I wouldn't have thought in the first place it would be wise for Stephen Smith or Kevin Rudd to come out and say that publicly. I think what they do they should do privately. But I think privately what they should do is work with other key democracies in encouraging the Thais to do that. I think they could work with some of the ASEAN countries, they probably these days could work with the Indonesians, with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, with even possibly the President. They could certainly work with the Americans as well, because the Americans will listen to Australia on an issue like Thailand, they'll if you like in terms of the bilateral relationship they'll see Australia as the lead country on Thailand. I don't know of course what privately Stephen Smith and Kevin Rudd have been doing on Thailand but I certainly think that that's the sort of thing that they could do, corralling democracies with an interest in Thailand together to go to the Thais and say you've got to lance the boil, you need to have a general election which is free and fair and open and transparent, political parties should be allowed to run in the election, the military or the constitutional court shouldn't decide to ban political parties. And I think if that happens then the problem will be pretty much solved. But it probably would mean by the way that the present Prime Minister of Thailand wouldn't get re-elected.

MOTTRAM: So that's the former Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer.

[ozzieovaseas]

Not very diplomatic words from Downer

Notice he makes mention of "What they could do",bla bla bla

What they could and should do, IMO, is try lobby for international support to condemn the acts of the key figures who started this mess in the first place

but no mention of that..but does he think he is helping by speculating that the present government would loose an election..fool

anyone could be forgiven for thinking he's on the payroll as well