Suthep must rethink his failed-state plans

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Suthep must rethink his failed-state plans
Attayuth Bootsripoom

BANGKOK: -- Today a no-confidence vote is scheduled in a volatile political climate - one that is potentially inflammable because the anti-government protesters are trying to create a situation that would lead Thailand to a political impasse.

The key protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, has announced that he is aiming beyond a House dissolution and the PM's resignation. He plans to change the ruling system to one he prefers.

The question now is whether the country's problems would really end if Suthep gets what he wants. Campaigns like this have happened before and on several occasions the protesters have won - but eventually nobody is ever the complete winner.

Looking at Suthep's strategies, it appears that he wants events to bring Thailand to an impasse. He does not want the House to be dissolved, but he wants many MPs and senators to be indicted so they can't do their duties.

At the same time, he is organising protests to disrupt the administration, leading to a failed-state situation.

Suthep has in mind a people's assembly with representatives from various walks of life to draft rules, establishing new groups to closely monitor the power of politicians. Simply put, Suthep wants independent agencies to oversee the government's work at every step.

Under such circumstances, the government will not be able to use its power freely and will be under the control of individuals who choose members of the monitoring agencies.

This would lead to one crucial question: what will this assembly be based on? This is crucial because such an assembly would be like a post-coup national assembly.

Moreover, we have the House and Senate; and a Constitution that clearly states how laws must be drafted and enacted and put into force. However, such an assembly can be formed only if the current charter is annulled. There are only a few ways to do that, and they would take longer than the three days Suthep has declared.

Suthep should also not forget that not all members of society agree with his ideas. He must take note there are red-shirt people who disagree with him, and their number could be equal to that of his supporters. So far, the red shirts have been told not to come out in large numbers to avoid confrontation.

But if Suthep's group were to try toppling the government through undemocratic means, the red shirts would definitely come out to fight - leading to conflict like the 2010 demonstrations.

Some say that if Suthep continues his demonstration to pressure the government, it could lead to a civil war.

It is undeniable the government has reached an impasse and lost legitimacy to run the country.

But the protesters are also destroying their own legitimacy more and more by violating the laws.


-- The Nation 2013-11-28

[Spare]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

[manfrommanteo]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

How can you compare great leaders like Ghandi, Churchill, MLK Jr and Mandela to absolute murderers like Castro, Khomeini, Mao and Kim Li Sung? No comparison between those two groups.

[Bagwan]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

OMG I'm out of here before some moron tops this rubbish.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Thaugsuban, an anagram of A BAN U THUGS

[mca]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

OMG I'm out of here before some moron tops this rubbish.

I'm trying to convince myself that the poster posted it for a laugh and to entertain himself at the reaction. I'm really trying........

[Frank James]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

Joke of the day! And a strange cast mixture. Not often (let's say...never) do you see Churchill equated with Khomeini and Chairman Mao. Our British members will enjoy this. Brilliant!

PS: Who is "Ghadi"?

[h90]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

How can you compare great leaders like Ghandi, Churchill, MLK Jr and Mandela to absolute murderers like Castro, Khomeini, Mao and Kim Li Sung? No comparison between those two groups.

Here I would swap Castro and Churchill.

But Spare spoke about great leader with great vision. He didn't spoke about great leaders for human rights or lovely great leaders.

Ghandi and Mandela changed their country to what they believe is good, so did Castro and Khomeini.

Churchill did well in war, so did Khomeini, Mao and Kim il Sung

[mca]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

How can you compare great leaders like Ghandi, Churchill, MLK Jr and Mandela to absolute murderers like Castro, Khomeini, Mao and Kim Li Sung? No comparison between those two groups.

Here I would swap Castro and Churchill.

But Spare spoke about great leader with great vision.

Which would still exclude Suthep.

[catmac]

I would rather put Suthep in the same list as Benito Musolini, another pompous, arrogant, strutting buffoon who extinguished the flame of democracy in Italy to replace it with his fascist corporate state.

[Ulic]

Overreach, like them or not they were democratically elected. Go through the process. Keep things peaceful.

Get elected on the next round or do your best to keep them honest.

[PlastikbinLina]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

I do just love your sense of humour.

[airconsult]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

OMG I'm out of here before some moron tops this rubbish.

I'm trying to convince myself that the poster posted it for a laugh and to entertain himself at the reaction. I'm really trying........

Spare - can you post that to the facebook group "No hope for the human race"? Please?

[TravellinB]

Suthep is a great leader with great vision.

No less than great leaders like Ghadhi, Churchill, MLK Jr, Khomeini, Mandala, Castro, Mao & Kim Ll-Sung (but not his son / grandson).

After watching Mr Suthep on tv today, I can now finally understand why so many posters hold this man in such high esteem.

His message in a nutshell, is that he is here to fight for democracy, but he is not foolish enough to actually want to practice it.

If Mr Cameron had a statesman of this calibre in his UK government, the thorny Scottish Independence issue could be solved at a stroke.

Edited November 28, 2013 by TravellinB