BURNING ISSUE
After snubbing poll, Abhisit not qualified to be mediator
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva will not be able to achieve his ambition to reconcile the political rift and find a solution, as his Democrat Party, and he himself, are part of the problem, not the solution.

The on-going political crisis in this country would never have occurred if the Democrat Party and its ally, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), had agreed to join the February 2 snap election.

Indeed the Democrats, as Abhisit said many times but never believed, had a chance to win the February 2 election because the Yingluck Shinawatra administration had so many problems. Even her core allies, the red-shirt group, had difficulties with the government over the amnesty bill.

The Democrats received a lot of support from the elite and the urban middle class as well as the mass media for their campaign against the government's rice-pledging scheme and many other populist policies.

It seems ridiculous enough that even those who benefited from the government's first-car policy, which reduced excise tax for first-car buyers, still support the opposition Democrats.

However Abhisit and his crew rejected such strong support and a golden opportunity, despite resistance from senior figures in the party. Abhisit tagged along with his former political twin Suthep Thaugsuban to go for a street battle, rather than an election.

With the campaign to disrupt the February 2 election and their call for a non-elected interim government, Abhisit, the Democrats and Suthep have become an anti-democracy movement. Unbelievable but true, the oldest political party in Thailand, named the Democrats, campaigned for something undemocratic. They acted as if they had already lost faith in the electoral system and democracy.

They strongly criticised politicians for doing all the bad things in the Kingdom, as if they themselves were not politicians.

Sensible observers and analysts never believed that Suthep and Abhisit really understood what they called 'reform'. A half-year since they began street protests calling for reforms, none of them, even the intellectuals who took the stage at the rally against Yingluck's government, have yet determined what they want to reform. If reform was so necessary for Thailand, as they are currently saying, why didn't Abhisit and Suthep do anything while they were in power? Why do they call for reform when they have no power to achieve it? It's always true in Thai politics that politicians call for a change to the rules of the game whenever they are on the losing side. Reform for Abhisit and Suthep is a shortcut to power.

Abhisit is now calling all stakeholders to sit together with him to break away from the crisis and reform the country. He said he is not a mediator. In fact he did not need to say so, as he cannot be an honest mediator.

As if he had just arrived from Mars, Abhisit launched a campaign for reform and an election at the same time. Reform, if really necessary, badly required a people's mandate. But an Oxford-graduate should know such a mandate would come only from an election, not politicians' mouths.

If any politician in this country really has ideas to reform anything, they should present the ideas as a political platform or policies to voters. If the people are in agreement, they will vote and give the mandate to those persons to conduct the reform.

As they are politicians, the best way for Abhisit and his party now is to conduct soul-searching and to map out new strategic plans to present a good platform and policies in order to win the hearts and minds of voters across the entire nation. If they were good enough, or people believed they were better than all the others, they would get power to reform whatever they deemed necessary.


-- The Nation 2014-04-30

Well said. Now come the Suthep and his follows crying, crying, crying again.

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading.

Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

"The on-going political crisis in this country would never have occurred if the Democrat Party and its ally, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), had agreed to join the February 2 snap election."

Wasn't much point reading after this [though I did] as the reporter already is talking BS.

Hmm, isn't this supposed to be the anti PT paper, according to some, seems not to be so to me.

Another red shirt expanding on their basic principle ("we dun nuffink wrong") with the inevitable corollary "all the problems were caused by someone else".

Wow! I would swear this reporter reworded my previous post yesterday about these leaders can not fix the problems when it is they who are part of the problem.

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"The on-going political crisis in this country would never have occurred if the Democrat Party and its ally, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), had agreed to join the February 2 snap election."

Wasn't much point reading after this [though I did] as the reporter already is talking BS.

Hmm, isn't this supposed to be the anti PT paper, according to some, seems not to be so to me.

People see what they want to see, it's only an anti-PT newspaper when it suits people's agenda's to be so.

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

This is not the paper widely known for supporting "Thaksin paid red article not worth reading"

Mark was appointed as PM last time and didn't implement the so called much needed reforms back then so now out of the top job calls now for reforms, something's just not quite right there huh, I do in fact believe that reforms are needed, The thing is that reforms take time to implement properly, so a country needs a government NOT some appointed person by a few people with bias, agendas, and conflicted interests.

Reforms and policy's should be put to the people and then an election, that's the only fair, open, and democratic way for a country to operate, anything less is simply a power grabbing act that should never be allowed again, you familiar with the Khmer rouge and history, think about it.

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

nice to slag them off i dont have a problem with that at all...the thing is something have got to change or its same old same old...only the rich dogs are the winners..again..no-one can deny thailand needs serious reform..holding my breath no..

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

Mark should be appointed the president for the second time. Wow, you're really up on things, aren't you? I really hate to break this to you, but Mark was never appointed President. Thailand doesn't have Presidents, they have Prime Ministers.

I've read your other equally inane posts in various threads and can only wonder why your parents let their immature and "intellectually stunted" children play on their computer. Shouldn't you be in school?

If Thais learnt that 'lying' is not a virtue they might have a small chance of ending the political vacuum!

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Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

The writer is not a fan of Thaksin, so I don't think he'd take any money. This is the foreign news editor for the Nation isn't it?

Didn't he write some articles critical of the PTP as well?

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Like herpes, they come and go, but never go away.

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

Mark should be appointed the president for the second time. Wow, you're really up on things, aren't you? I really hate to break this to you, but Mark was never appointed President. Thailand doesn't have Presidents, they have Prime Ministers.

I've read your other equally inane posts in various threads and can only wonder why your parents let their immature and "intellectually stunted" children play on their computer. Shouldn't you be in school?

People who get hot “under the collar” in an open forum should defiantly not be involved in politics, because they are breeders of violence.

One cannot deny that the democrats made no friends in snubbing the elections, leaving their supporters feeling lost in a sea of Sh!!t and despair fearing that the PTP would just walk into power, however Abhisit as leader of the party has the right to meditate , just because someone decides to make a point, isn't a case for this sort of poorly thought out journalism, as leader of the major opposition party he is entitled to play a part in reform and election talks, it is akin to saying that CTPM Yingluck Shinawatra isn't allowed to participate because she talks to her brother.

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

Mark should be appointed the president for the second time. Wow, you're really up on things, aren't you? I really hate to break this to you, but Mark was never appointed President. Thailand doesn't have Presidents, they have Prime Ministers.

I've read your other equally inane posts in various threads and can only wonder why your parents let their immature and "intellectually stunted" children play on their computer. Shouldn't you be in school?

People who get hot “under the collar” in an open forum should defiantly not be involved in politics, because they are breeders of violence.

I hope your "hot under the collar" comment was not directed at me, because if so, would you please point out to me where I resembled that in any way or manner.

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Like herpes, they come and go, but never go away.

Come on man! This isn't something you share on a political forum. I am sorry for you gk but I am sure there are more suitable forums to discuss this issue.

Good luck!

"The on-going political crisis in this country would never have occurred if the Democrat Party and its ally, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), had agreed to join the February 2 snap election."

Wasn't much point reading after this [though I did] as the reporter already is talking BS.

Hmm, isn't this supposed to be the anti PT paper, according to some, seems not to be so to me.

Seems a bit odd to me how the paper is pro and the next day it's against, looks like someone is throwing spanners in the works to bait posters into big reaction,

could be coincidence, but everyday an article that brings out the majority of anti Gov posters with a topic, then gives the minority happy time topic.

This one has been thrown in to create sidetrack as how it is written creates anger.

Yesterday it was Abhisits nephew, praising him for his good work, and today ??? amazing reporting from Nation.

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Like herpes, they come and go, but never go away.

Except they have. PAD is dead.

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

Mark should be appointed president for the second time

President of what? The President of the soccer club?

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Like herpes, they come and go, but never go away.

Using your measure, should the Shinawatras be equated to genital warts, being ugly, harder to remove, and more likely to cause serious problems?

Slowly some of the yellow shirt supporters seen to be waking up, including some of the journalists at the nation. Kudos to them

Yellows? PAD? Thought they were gone...................

Like herpes, they come and go, but never go away.

Except they have. PAD is dead.

I agree that PAD, as a political force is dead. However their ideology still live on their leaders, and a few followers, and they have not only joined the ranks of the PDRC, but also as "advisers" in the PDRC. I've seen several photos in the media of Suthep in a meeting of one form or another, with one of the hard-core PAD leaders (can't think of his name at the moment) close by. Even Sondhi came out and publicly encouraged all PAD followers to join with PDRC. So in that sense of the word, PAD is still "alive", although maybe on "life support". lol

"The on-going political crisis in this country would never have occurred if the Democrat Party and its ally, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), had agreed to join the February 2 snap election."

Wasn't much point reading after this [though I did] as the reporter already is talking BS.

Hmm, isn't this supposed to be the anti PT paper, according to some, seems not to be so to me.

The author of this piece, Supalak Ganjankhundee, is one of the two writers at The Nation who have generally been out of step with the rest of the paper, politics wise (the other being Pravit Rojanaphruk). Take any article in The Nation during the past five years which has expressed red sympathetic views and it was very likely written by one or the other, though I doubt either would describe themselves as red shirt supporters. Supalak's main focus over the last decade has generally been on the deep south and border issues, but when he has written on the red/yellow conflict he's tended more towards criticism of the 'yellow' side. I doubt he has much affection for TS though.

These two are exceptions that prove the rule I suppose. Newspapers of particular political leanings often have one or two columnists that express contrary views, and it's no different here. The chairman of The Nation plus its editor are pretty well known to be anti-Thaksin and make no secret of it. Its writers are largely various shades of anti-govt and those are the views expressed in the vast majority of op-eds & editorials - though I'm told its Thai language sister papers tend to be more overtly biased.

IMO opinion Mr Abhisit is just as qualified if not more so than most in this country in terms of finding a sensible compromise.

even 'The Nation' is starting to 'get it'

Unbelievable but true, the oldest political party in Thailand, named the Democrats, campaigned for something undemocratic

how TRUE!!!

Another one of those Thaksin paid red article not worth reading. Mark should just be appointed the president for the second time. Election is a big waste of money, and cannot be held successfully anyway, because Bangkok people don't need it.

Mark should be appointed the president for the second time. Wow, you're really up on things, aren't you? I really hate to break this to you, but Mark was never appointed President. Thailand doesn't have Presidents, they have Prime Ministers.

I've read your other equally inane posts in various threads and can only wonder why your parents let their immature and "intellectually stunted" children play on their computer. Shouldn't you be in school?

This guy is your typical moron posting on things he has no idea about. Bangkok people don't need it, like North Koreans don't need it? 2/10. Fail.

IMO opinion Mr Abhisit is just as qualified if not more so than most in this country in terms of finding a sensible compromise.

Then you are not very clever and should probably get out more.

I always thought that by calling him Mark people were just laughing at him like it was a joke name?? I know I was.

Another red shirt expanding on their basic principle ("we dun nuffink wrong") with the inevitable corollary "all the problems were caused by someone else".

As I understand it both China and North Korea are very nice this time of the year should you want to live in a certain type of state you'll find them both very welcoming. Enjoy! There is a village missing it's idi...