THAI TALK

Charter change: Road ahead is lined with booby-traps

Suthichai Yoon

The Nation

Interior Minister Charupong

BANGKOK: -- The proposed constitutional amendment by the ruling Pheu Thai Party is stuck in the mud. Things could get messier if the next step in that direction isn't handled with great care.

For the first time, Pheu Thai leaders admitted - after a Khao Yai resort powwow one recent weekend - that legal and political complications had piled up to form a roadblock against changing some major clauses in the charter that they believe are serious obstacles for their own political future.

"We used to say that there were always several ways out of a problem. Now, we have come to realise that every way out is blocked by a host of problems," admitted Pheu Thai leader and interior minister, Charupong Ruangsuwan.

The road ahead is full of booby-traps, they claim, and since opinions expressed in the closed-door brainstorming session were highly divergent, the decision was not to make a decision.

The only way to buy a bit more time (45-60 days) was to announce that the issue would be studied by a group of academics in political science and law, who can come up with various options.

That statement, obviously, wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Every time politicians refer their indecision to academics, the natural conclusion is that they are diverting public attention temporarily until such time as they can settle their differences.

But Pheu Thai doesn't have the luxury of time either. On the one hand, its close alliance to the red shirts has put pressure on the party to go ahead and vote on the third and final reading of the constitutional amendment bill so that a Constitution Drafting Committee can be formed to rewrite the charter.

On the other hand, Thaksin Shinawatra, the real power behind the scenes, has publicly stated that the party should proceed with holding a referendum to ask for a public mandate to amend the Constitution.

Thaksin says he is confident that he can gather enough votes to get the referendum passed in Pheu Thai's favour. The red shirts say they aren't sure about that, and that going the route of a referendum would be tantamount to playing into the hands of those who are waiting to undermine the charter-change campaign.

Pheu Thai members are split between the two options. The official decision to ask the political science and law experts to look into the various options is nothing more than postponing the day of reckoning.

The Pheu Thai Party's leadership is caught between the fear of strong opposition from the yellow shirts - the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) - who are against voting on the third reading, and the red shirts who are vehemently opposed to holding a referendum.

Not only that, they are also not sure how the judges on the panel of the Constitutional Court would react to the two possible scenarios. If they move ahead with the third reading, the court might find fault with the decision, since the court earlier suggested that a referendum would be an appropriate process. On the other hand, if Pheu Thai goes for the referendum, it could run the risk of losing the vote, Thaksin's public confidence and statement notwithstanding, and setting itself apart from the red shirts who remain a strong bastion of the party's political stability.

The problem gets even more complicated when some Pheu Thai members have raised the question of how the referendum is to be held. The present charter stipulates two kinds of referendum; one is a decisive "yes-no" formula and the other strictly on a "consultative" basis with no binding commitment to the outcome of the vote.

To avoid possible negative consequences, the red-shirt leaders have officially filed a petition to the Constitutional Court for "clarifications" on a number of issues on just where the judges stand.

At the same time, the party's working group on charter amendments has consulted the Election Commission on how the proposed referendum should be conducted, to prevent any further legal snags.

But legal explanations and clarifications don't necessarily provide a way out for Pheu Thai and Thaksin as long as the real motives behind this move remain cloaked in political nuance and innuendo.

-- The Nation 2013-01-17

Of course they could just let Thailand get on with it's economic miracle and leave things as they are?

There was one paragraph that pretty well said it all.

"For the first time, Pheu Thai leaders admitted - after a Khao Yai resort powwow one recent weekend - that legal and political complications had piled up to form a roadblock against changing some major clauses in the charter that they believe are serious obstacles for their own political future."

In other words the good of the nation is not what they are looking for.

Turn it over to Academics should scare the he-l out of people. They are academics because they live in there heads and not the real world.

Yes it is lined with booby traps.

That is what you use to catch a boob and the PT qualify hands down.

isnt it great that thaksin thinks he can bribe enough thai people to get it approved when he isnt even game to show his face here, will our esteemed red shirt appologists come in here now and defend him I wonder. You cant get much more of an admission that this is all purely to get thaksin back in the country than what has been said by these idiots. Just goes to show that none of those that are in office have any ability to think and make statements under their own steam, they are all too stupid, "duh, we arent going ahead with this because it might cause us to loose money because it is illegal"

There is never a new day in the world of the LOS that ever amazes me anymore..... I sure liked the old days, but who knows, maybe this is the reason why it is this way today........????? As any nation gains appeal, it will surely lose it's luster.....

Just a thought?????

kilosierra

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Er.......

Evolution happens, society develops, things grow, meanings change, old orders die out and new ones occur....

Adaptation and all that.

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Er.......

Evolution happens, society develops, things grow, meanings change, old orders die out and new ones occur....

Adaptation and all that.

And corrupt politicians get elected. So let's make it easy for them to abolish any anti-corruption measures restricting their access to pillage.

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Er.......

Evolution happens, society develops, things grow, meanings change, old orders die out and new ones occur....

Adaptation and all that.

Aye. But if Thailand follow Thaksin's path the Thais will be back in the trees in some kind of anti-Darwinian nightmare.

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Er.......

Evolution happens, society develops, things grow, meanings change, old orders die out and new ones occur....

Adaptation and all that.

Aye. But if Thailand follow Thaksin's path the Thais will be back in the trees in some kind of anti-Darwinian nightmare.

Nope they will all be rich------------ He said so.

The road ahead is full of booby-traps, they claim, and since opinions expressed in the closed-door brainstorming session were highly divergent,the decision was not to make a decision.

Got to give it to the PTP, They are consistent.

Constitutions SHOULD be hard to change. That's the point! That's the protection a constitution offers (of course it DOES need to be reasonably well drafted in the 1st place, by those with the national, as opposed to self-, interest in mind)! One man's "booby trap" is another man's protection against mob rule (aka chaos). I saw one pinhead on another board pontificating about how the US Constitution is over 200 years old, was never meant to last this long, and should be ignored. A perfect example of the dangers of ignorance & mob rule.

Er.......

Evolution happens, society develops, things grow, meanings change, old orders die out and new ones occur....

Adaptation and all that.

Aye. But if Thailand follow Thaksin's path the Thais will be back in the trees in some kind of anti-Darwinian nightmare.

And how have the last 200 years development helped the majority of people? I am sure the old powers that be were just about to start thinking about their development, education, well being etc prior to Thaksin coming on the scene.

And how have the last 200 years development helped the majority of people? I am sure the old powers that be were just about to start thinking about their development, education, well being etc prior to Thaksin coming on the scene.

Well, they wrote a constitution and had elections before Thaksin came along. And after the 2006 coup, they handed power back to an elected government pretty quickly. That's got to be a big step forward.

Can't say Thaksin did much about education while he was PM and Education minister.