Three major parties say no to non-elected prime minister

[kinmaew]

Doesn't matter really they are all puppets.

[dominique355]

Of course the political parties won't like it if their monopoly is cracked.

[Chris Lawrence]

'Lost in Space'

Danger, danger, Will Robertson? said the Robot.

[SaamBaht]

Dictatocracy, or Dictatortocracy, or, you you, I'm in charge.

[how241]

Puts a totally new spin on the meaning of Democracy

+1...It's all about the 'spin'.

[novo58]

Many "democracies" DO NOT elect the country's leader.

Take Australia for example . The electorate DO NOT vote for the Prime Minister. The people vote for a "local " ( who quite often has never lived in the electorate) member of parliament. The local voters have NO SAY in who is nominated by any party to go on the ballot paper. The voters ONLY get to choose between the options given to them.

The party with the most elected members ( or the one that forms a coalition to make the most combined members) then elects the Prime Minister( usually but not always the known leader of the political party).

WHEN the members of the majority party in parliament are no longer happy with the performance of THEIR elected leader, they vote the PM out and then a very small group ( the caucus) appoint a new PM.

This has been seen often recently in Australian politics (Rudd/ Gillard/ Rudd) and is on the cards again( Abbott).

[smedly]

This is indeed a dangerous path if they decide to elect an outsider as P.M. the people fought long and hard to break away from Junta style totalitarian government and here it is back again, at the beginning of the coup they promised so much and at the end delivered so little, one thing you can be sure of regardless of the surname of the PM the former title General would be a certain, junta power by stealth, you are not welcome back.

I am honestly struggling to understand the point you are making even though I do not agree with the idea of an unelected PM

I'm going to assume that the elected government has a free choice to vote for whoever they want to be PM

[petercool]

A flame post removed

[ggt]

If I was the leader of these three major parties...I would expect a visit from some gov't official escorted by the military to arrest me on trumped-up charges...

We are still under marital law...and although there is a PM of sorts...his blood runs military green...

[djjamie]

So lets see if the Junta are receptive to the voice of these political parties.

It is interesting that some think the Junta and the DEMS are in each others pockets, BUT facts show otherwise. The DEM's are against the Junta's draft on this occasion. So much for that theory.

Of course when the agenda suits them they are in each other pockets irrespective of facts.

[MW72]

Got the Thai Visa News email update this afternoon and it had a story titled "Prayut remains favourite choice as PM". So 68.7% of a massive 1,158 people in BKK think he is the man for the job if they were given the right to vote. What amused me the most was the photo that went with this story in the email. It's a lot different to the one that accompanies the story on the web site. I have attached the photo below for those that haven't seen it. It speaks volumes about the current situation and how Prayut became to be in his position as opposed to how the people polled said they would vote if given the right to.

Someone who works for TVF has a really good sense of humor. Keep up the good work.

[willyumiii]

While we are at it, how about making the rule that the PM must be truly elected, by an electorate and not by the party list. Then all candidates can be publicly scrutinised, which would be far better than getting some party hack, or a billionaire megalomaniac who buys his way to power.

Can we take it one step further?

Let's have an election where people are not paid for their votes!

People are to be elected on their qualifications and convictions,

not their financial ability to buy votes!

A real democracy, for the first time ever!

[sawadee1947]

...and who will tell Thai people what is a national Crisis..???? An Army General?

[smedly]

So lets see if the Junta are receptive to the voice of these political parties.

It is interesting that some think the Junta and the DEMS are in each others pockets, BUT facts show otherwise. The DEM's are against the Junta's draft on this occasion. So much for that theory.

Of course when the agenda suits them they are in each other pockets irrespective of facts.

honestly I wish da man Prayuth Chan (O) Cha was running things for at least another 3 years then we may see all of these corrupt cooonts locked up - unfortunately that doesn't seem likely - he may need a bit of PR guidance but can anyone honestly say that there hasn't been a serious routing of many corrupt officials that thought they were untouchable - the man is a hero in my books and may it continue - the rot is slowly being sniffed out and cleansed

As for the loud mouthed politicians that feel the need to be heard right now - they should all be ashamed of themselves and be quiet - what have they achieved in the last 30 years - absolutely nothing

[billd766]

quote "Former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat of Pheu Thai party said having an outsider as prime minister represents a step backward. He said that political development in this country has already advanced to the stage that the prime minister should be an elected representative as stipulated in the 1997 charter."

Would the former PM Somchai care to explain how a total outsider with NO political experience can be voted in as PM as Yingluck Shinawatra was?

She stood for NO constituency, not one public vote was cast in her name and only the 300 or so PTP MPs voted for her. If they had ALL voted against her she would still have been the PM because the only vote which counted was the one cast by her brother Thaksin, the convicted criminal fugitive who, incidentally has NO vote at all in Thailand.

So Democracy PTP style, and some people still want it that way.

[ExPratt]

I think its all smoke and mirrors , I have no doubt they know what the Major reforms will be to the constitution , there may be some points up for debate but the big stuff was decided before the coup took place

[heybruce]

quote "Former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat of Pheu Thai party said having an outsider as prime minister represents a step backward. He said that political development in this country has already advanced to the stage that the prime minister should be an elected representative as stipulated in the 1997 charter."

Would the former PM Somchai care to explain how a total outsider with NO political experience can be voted in as PM as Yingluck Shinawatra was?

She stood for NO constituency, not one public vote was cast in her name and only the 300 or so PTP MPs voted for her. If they had ALL voted against her she would still have been the PM because the only vote which counted was the one cast by her brother Thaksin, the convicted criminal fugitive who, incidentally has NO vote at all in Thailand.

So Democracy PTP style, and some people still want it that way.

Actually that was democracy in accordance with the constitution written at the Army's direction after the 2006 coup. Her party won the most votes, and her party chose her as PM.

[Srikcir]

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While we are at it, how about making the rule that the PM must be truly elected, by an electorate and not by the party list. Then all candidates can be publicly scrutinised, which would be far better than getting some party hack, or a billionaire megalomaniac who buys his way to power.

All MP's are truly elected and therefore subject to scrutiny. This is the parliamentary system.

What the CDC/NRC is developing as a government WAS supposed to be based on Germany's Multi-Member Party syste. Then it WAS supposed to be based on Northern Ireland coalition system. Last week it WAS supposed to adopt the parliamentary systems of Canada and the UK.. When you look at the details of the new system it doesn't any democratic system of government, whether it be a republic or constitutional monarchy.

You have to look at the BIG PICTURE. With a very restrictive consitution that basically keeps the nation permanently under martial law, and several layers of unelected independent organizations, the new government system will not resemble a democratic parliamentary system. It may be more similar to a communist political system where government officials are elected as well.

[Wombat6]

While we are at it, how about making the rule that the PM must be truly elected, by an electorate and not by the party list. Then all candidates can be publicly scrutinised, which would be far better than getting some party hack, or a billionaire megalomaniac who buys his way to power.

All MP's are truly elected and therefore subject to scrutiny. This is the parliamentary system.

So you haven't heard about the Party List ?? The last PM and and a lot of people wern't "Elected"....they were nominated by their Political Parties.