NCPO will have final say on charter: Thai analysys

[webfact]

ANALYSIS
NCPO will have final say on charter
Opas Boonlom
The Nation

Special clause expected to give junta more power than govt to deal with security situations

BANGKOK: -- A provisional charter is set to be put into effect soon after it is submitted to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for final approval before it gets royal endorsement and can be promulgated.

The interim charter, drafted by a team of law experts led by Prof Wissanu Krea-ngam, is currently undergoing final approval.

Meanwhile, political observers have been waiting patiently to see what the new charter would say regarding the National Legislative Assembly, the prime minister and the National Reform Council.

However, the most interesting point would be the subject of security and what powers the NCPO would be given to deal with security issues once an interim government takes over.

The NCPO has some lessons to learn from the 2006 coup. At that time, coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin failed to retain enough power after handing the administration over to a post-coup government led by General Surayud Chulanont. Hence, the military was unable to complete its goal of completely overthrowing the Thaksin Shinawatra government. This is possibly why many of the problems, such as corruption and conflict, were left unsolved and Thaksin's camp managed to return to power. For many, the 2006 coup was a "waste of time".

In order for the NCPO to not repeat this mistake, it is believed that the provisional charter will include a special clause that gives the council more power than the interim government in relation to security matters. This clause would be similar to Article 27 in the 1991 interim charter, which came into effect after the government of Chatichai Choonhavan was ousted in a coup staged by a group of military officers calling themselves the National Peacekeeping Council (NPKC).

Article 27 said that if at any time the country's security was threatened, the NPKC chief or the prime minister had the power to issue orders. This meant that the NPKC chief had the same powers as the government leader in terms of security matters.

Should there be a similar clause in the new interim charter, NCPO chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha will have the power to issue security-related orders without having to consult the government and essentially ignore any disagreements. (There were previous reports that the junta chief might also double as an interim premier.)

In comparison, Article 34 in the charter put in place after the 2006 coup stated that the post-coup Council of National Security (led by General Sonthi) or the prime minister could call a joint meeting with the council and the Cabinet to discuss ways of dealing with security threats. This meant the coup leaders could only act as advisers to the post-coup government.

NCPO probably wants to retain power in terms of security because it wants to be able to deal with problems such as street protests or riots that may happen in the future.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NCPO-will-have-final-say-on-charter-30238066.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-09

[lostsoul49]

So for you lot who thought you could just sit and bide your time then act up again when the interim government takes over, you have another thing coming.

They should just make an announcement.

'Nobody past or present ever aligned with Thaksin, or any Shinawatra or and PTP member or minister can be involved in politics in Thailand..... ever!'

Too much damage done, and far too risky to allow him a way back into Thai politics.

It only takes one person willing to become a proxy for Thaksin and he has a route back.. Then all the crap will start over again.

[Krataiboy]

This should go down well with the international community. Shades of Saddam Hussein and the two Bush bites of the cherry it took to lay him low.

[Just1Voice]

So for you lot who thought you could just sit and bide your time then act up again when the interim government takes over, you have another thing coming.

They should just make an announcement.

'Nobody past or present ever aligned with Thaksin, or any Shinawatra or and PTP member or minister can be involved in politics in Thailand..... ever!'

Too much damage done, and far too risky to allow him a way back into Thai politics.

It only takes one person willing to become a proxy for Thaksin and he has a route back.. Then all the crap will start over again.

So, let me guess, your favorite shirts in your closet or dresser and the yellow ones?

And before you comment, no, I don't have any red ones. I'm apolitical and neutral, as most farang should be. Not our circus, not our monkeys. But some just can't help themselves.

[rickirs]

A provisional charter will include a special clause that gives NCPO more power than the interim government in relation to security matters? This is proposed in Article 17 of the new charter and is similar to the charter put in place by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat after the coup in 1958.

NCPO has shown through its actions that "security matters" goes beyond just maintaining the rule of law and order as to also include anything that causes Thai people “conflict” and “unhappiness.” As Abhisit recently pointed out, “an interim charter that restricts basic rights might have adverse political ramifications..”

A system of governance that provides for a military junta to have absolute power over the actions of an interim and elected legislative assembly constitutes a dictatorship similar to Asaad’s Syria, Sadaam’s Iraq, and North Korea. Such a system of governance is not a democratic system of governance, regardless of whether Thai’s agree to it or not, and regardless of how much it is dressed up with the “jewelry” of democracy.

Let’s also be realistic that the military through its absolute power will continue to not be bound nor controlled by any constitution. Article 68 of the 2007 Constitution held that:

“No person shall exercise the rights and liberties prescribed in the Constitution to overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as head of State under this Constitution or to acquire the power to rule the country by any means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in the Constitution.”

Obviously, the military did not respect this provision with impunity. So long as a nation’s constitution cannot be inviolate and protected from illegal subversion, its peoples will continue to live under a veil of repression regardless of any Happiness Index score.

[tingtongteesood]

When the politicians are as corrupt as they were, it would have been nice for the army to be able to act without their interference. I think the army should be free from political interference, but they should have checks and balances same as the government and all should be answerable to the courts.

Edited July 9, 2014 by tingtongteesood

[sweatalot]

So for you lot who thought you could just sit and bide your time then act up again when the interim government takes over, you have another thing coming.

They should just make an announcement.

'Nobody past or present ever aligned with Thaksin, or any Shinawatra or and PTP member or minister can be involved in politics in Thailand..... ever!'

Too much damage done, and far too risky to allow him a way back into Thai politics.

It only takes one person willing to become a proxy for Thaksin and he has a route back.. Then all the crap will start over again.

So, let me guess, your favorite shirts in your closet or dresser and the yellow ones?

And before you comment, no, I don't have any red ones. I'm apolitical and neutral, as most farang should be. Not our circus, not our monkeys. But some just can't help themselves.

So you are saying only "yellows" understand the crimes done by the ousted government and their predecessors, their cronies and their godfather? Do not underestimate common sense and intelligence of the majority of Thai people who are not red shirts. (For this very reason)

[Just1Voice]

So for you lot who thought you could just sit and bide your time then act up again when the interim government takes over, you have another thing coming.

They should just make an announcement.

'Nobody past or present ever aligned with Thaksin, or any Shinawatra or and PTP member or minister can be involved in politics in Thailand..... ever!'

Too much damage done, and far too risky to allow him a way back into Thai politics.

It only takes one person willing to become a proxy for Thaksin and he has a route back.. Then all the crap will start over again.

So, let me guess, your favorite shirts in your closet or dresser and the yellow ones?

And before you comment, no, I don't have any red ones. I'm apolitical and neutral, as most farang should be. Not our circus, not our monkeys. But some just can't help themselves.

So you are saying only "yellows" understand the crimes done by the ousted government and their predecessors, their cronies and their godfather? Do not underestimate common sense and intelligence of the majority of Thai people who are not red shirts. (For this very reason)

No, I'm not saying that at all, and trust me, I've met just as many ignorant yellow "sheeple" as I have red ones. Ignorance isn't limited to any one color, nor is intelligence. But like many others, you seem to think that all corruption in Thailand started with, and expanded under, Thaksin and his family and cronies, when the truth is that corruption of that nature existed before Thaksin was even conceived. And the Democrats have had their own versions of Thaksin, namely Suthep, but they just never were able to attain the position Thaksin did in politics. Palm Oil and land scandals sound familiar? Anyone who doesn't know, or think, that "Uncle Kamnam" is, in his own way, just as corrupt as Thaksin is living in a fantasy world. General P is not going to stamp out corruption overnight, or even in 2 years. He can get a start on it, but it's going to take a couple of generations, and complete reeducation of the people for it to happen, as it did in Singapore. And you can't blame everything wrong on just one man and his family. There's more than enough blame to go around for a hell of a lot of people who don't have the Shinawatra last name.