Bhum Jai Thai-Chart Thai Pattana 'Alliance' Just A Stunt: Pairoj

[webfact]

Bhum Jai Thai-Chart Thai Pattana 'alliance' just a stunt: Pairoj

By The Nation

The Bhum Jai Thai-Chart Thai Pattana political alliance was just a publicity stunt without any real substance, Pairoj Suwanchawee of the Puea Pandin Party said yesterday.

"I understand Chart Thai Pattana has fallen prey to Bhum Jai Thai's ploy to hype up a dinner between the two parties," said Pairoj, a Puea Pandin faction leader.

Bhum Jai Thai tried to portray the get-together as a watershed event and Chart Thai Pattana just went along, he said.

He said his factional alliance, known as 3Ps, supported a snap election to overcome criticism that the Democrat-led coalition was hatched in military barracks in 2008.

The voting outcome would dispel any lingering doubts over the legitimacy of the multi-party government, he said.

Puea Pandin MP Polapee Suwanchawee questioned the true purpose for the alliance brokered by Bhum Jai Thai's Newin Chidchob and Chart Thai Pattana's Banharn Silapa-archa.

"If the two want the alliance to work, then they should have dissolved their parties and formed a merger," he said.

The two de facto leaders might have an ulterior motive in ensuring that they would not be left behind by the next coalition bandwagon, he said.

Newin and Banharn should have combined their parties to present a real alternative to voters instead of trying to rig the balloting outcome to favour them regardless of which major parties secured victory, he said.

The prime minister should dissolve the House as soon as possible to put politics back on course, as delaying the poll would allow the political divide to fester, he said.

Matubhum Party leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin said his party was ready to contest the election.

Matubhum will soon unveil its prospective candidates hoping to win House seats from the deep South and certain Northeastern provinces such as Surin, Chaiyaphum and Kalasin, he said.

Some prominent figures, ex-military and police officers and retired civil servants have decided to join his party, he said.

Former interior minister Purachai Piumsombun's plan to set up the Pracha Santi Party was a welcome move, as politics could use more newcomers, he said.

In the past, major parties like the Democrat and Pheu Thai could garner only 15-16 per cent of votes cast, so there was plenty of room for other parties to influence the balloting, he said.

-- The Nation 2011-03-21

[rubl]

In the past, major parties like the Democrat and Pheu Thai could garner only 15-16 per cent of votes cast, so there was plenty of room for other parties to influence the balloting, Matubhum Party leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin said.

Yet another politician who can't count beyond his ten fingers ?

[bangkokeddy]

He said his factional alliance, known as 3Ps, supported a snap election to overcome criticism that the Democrat-led coalition was hatched in military barracks in 2008.

Hatched in military barracks? How anyone could come up with such an absurd suggestion?

[Emptyset]

He said his factional alliance, known as 3Ps, supported a snap election to overcome criticism that the Democrat-led coalition was hatched in military barracks in 2008.

Hatched in military barracks? How anyone could come up with such an absurd suggestion?

Absurd? It's widely suspected, but some analysts like Thitinan Pongsudhirak, take it as fact:

While these machinations are par for the course for Thailand’s topsy-turvy democracy, they point to a deeper structural schism. Thailand’s six-decade-old incumbent regime, which relies on symbiosis between the monarchy and the military, is unable to tolerate elections that empower the rural masses unwittingly awakened by Thaksin’s premiership.

These masses, along with the urban poor, make up the bulk of the red shirts. They demand a voice in politics, a stake in the country’s grossly unequal economy, and the chance for upward mobility that they saw in Thaksin and his populist programs. They know that elected politicians are prone to graft, but now refuse blatant disenfranchisement and the formation of governments like Abhisit’s, which was brokered in an army barracks.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/pongsudhirak4/English

[rubl]

Absurd? It's widely suspected, but some analysts like Thitinan Pongsudhirak, take it as fact:

While these machinations are par for the course for Thailand’s topsy-turvy democracy, they point to a deeper structural schism. Thailand’s six-decade-old incumbent regime, which relies on symbiosis between the monarchy and the military, is unable to tolerate elections that empower the rural masses unwittingly awakened by Thaksin’s premiership.

These masses, along with the urban poor, make up the bulk of the red shirts. They demand a voice in politics, a stake in the country’s grossly unequal economy, and the chance for upward mobility that they saw in Thaksin and his populist programs. They know that elected politicians are prone to graft, but now refuse blatant disenfranchisement and the formation of governments like Abhisit’s, which was brokered in an army barracks.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/pongsudhirak4/English

Just a previous one from the same professor (2010-05-20):

"Thailand's only hope lies in political compromise

The redshirts need to disassociate from Thaksin and form ties with government, who must work with moderate leaders

...

Thailand's ultimate reconciliation centres on the redshirts beyond Thaksin, under a different leadership, and the pro-Abhisit establishment's willingness to accept the reds' grievances and work to alleviate them with revised rules"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/20/thailand-thaksin-redshirts-abhisit

Edited March 21, 2011 by rubl

[bangkokeddy]

I see. But i think there are still many who would call that absurd. You know

I am kinda missing them in this thread.

[Emptyset]

Just a previous one from the same professor (2010-05-20):

"Thailand's only hope lies in political compromise

The redshirts need to disassociate from Thaksin and form ties with government, who must work with moderate leaders

...

Thailand's ultimate reconciliation centres on the redshirts beyond Thaksin, under a different leadership, and the pro-Abhisit establishment's willingness to accept the reds' grievances and work to alleviate them with revised rules"

http://www.guardian....dshirts-abhisit

I agree. Good article. This one is also worth reading, from early 2006: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/pongsudhirak2/English

"What Thai democracy needs in order to mature is not a political safety net, but a vigilant citizenry to ensure disciplined enforcement of the constitution’s provisions and institutions, so that they can no longer be hijacked by the likes of a Thaksin." That was the point I was trying to make in the other thread about military/elite intervention. In an ideal world, of course...