[Tlc] T-politics

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Forwarded from Dr. Charnvit Kasetsiri.
Thanks,
justin

POLITICS-THAILAND : New PM Faces Baptism of Fire
By Marwaan Macan-Markar  IPS.

BANGKOK, Sep 18 (IPS) - Thailand's new prime minister -- the second this year -- begins his term in an unprecedented climate of hostility against elected parliaments.

The anger that Somchai Wongsawat confronts is being spearheaded by anti-government street protests rallying under the banner of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The latter, which some here are calling the ''mob,'' has asserted, through round-the-clock demonstrations since late May, that the street has the power to dictate the country's political agenda.

The challenge by the street towards an elected administration is most obvious in one area: Somchai, a former judge and bureaucrat, is unable to work out of the seat of executive power, Government House. This unprecedented break from tradition stems from the PAD's forcefully occupying Government House with thousands of its supporters since late August.

So the 61-year-old Somchai, this South-east Asian country's 26th prime minister since it became a constitutional monarchy 76 years ago, has to settle for the alternative prime minister's office, the halls of Bangkok's old airport. For now, the six-party coalition that closed ranks to elect him appears to have accepted this reality. Somchai received 298 votes out of the 466 cast in parliament on Wednesday.

He succeeds Samak Sundaravej, a feisty veteran, who was forced to resign last week after a court found him guilty of receiving payment for hosting a cookery show during his seven-month term. Samak's sudden departure was a bizarre twist to an unending political roller coaster ride that gripped Thailand for months.

The likelihood of Somchai serving a longer term also remains uncertain, due to his close links to the financially powerful former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a September 2006 coup and subsequently fled the country to avoid a corruption trial. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

After all, it was the taint of Thaksin that largely crippled Samak, who led the People Power Party (PPP) to victory at a December 2006 general election. The PAD accused Samak of being a ''proxy'' of Thaksin and launched street protests to force him from power. In the eyes of the PAD, Thaksin symbolises political corruption at its worst.

Somchai being ''gentlemanly'' and having a ''better reputation'' will not lessen the political heat, warned Somsak Kosaisuk, a PAD leader, to the crowds gathered at Government House, after the parliamentarians voted. ''Blood is thicker than water.''

Yet, in an effort to strike a note of unity, Somchai, who had served as a deputy PPP leader under Samak, reached out to the parliamentary opposition soon after his triumph. He walked to the opposition benches and shook hands with opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. ''I would like to thank everyone for your confidence. I will carry out my duty to the best of my ability,'' he said in parliament.

Analysts expect more of the same as Somchai struggles to hold on to the mantle of premier of the PPP-led coalition. ''Somchai is going to be under fire from the beginning; no honeymoon for him,'' says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. ''He will have to be on the defensive and face the same attacks that were directed at Samak.''

His nomination, in fact, ''is a short-term measure -- not by design but by circumstance,'' added Thitinan in an interview. ''The PPP wants to hold on till the new budget is approved and implemented in October. This can help the party lay the groundwork for the next elections.''

Somchai's period in office will also be a further test in this country as to who has a greater say in influencing the national agenda: the street or an elected legislature. ''This is the first time that the street is determining the political agenda, not the government, which has an elected mandate to do so,'' says Thanet Aphornsuvan, dean of the liberal arts faculty at Bangkok's Thammasat University. ''It is different from the street protests we have had before in 1992 and 1973 to get rid of military dictators.''

Despite its name, the PAD's agenda of change includes a plan to roll back democracy by calling for the parliament to have 70 percent of its members appointed and only 30 percent elected. It has also displayed an affinity for ultra-nationalism and a top-down approach to solving political issues, thus ensuring the interests of the entrenched elite are served.

''The PAD's success is aimed at weakening the role of parliament. They are trying to achieve a people's coup, because they have support from some sections of the military,'' added Thanet in an interview. ''The only difference for now is that the PAD does not control the government.''

The PAD's open defiance of the parliament and the law stems from its interpretation of a constitutional right about the public's the right to protest. Such rights were enshrined in a 1997 constitution and the 2007 charter, the country's 18th.

''The PAD feels confident that the authorities cannot crackdown on the protests even if they have broken many laws,'' says Thanet. ''This is the first time that this constitutional guarantee is being used this way, but for the wrong reasons.''

The unprecedented freedom that the PAD is enjoying has gained weight because of its support base, which ranges from the urban middle class, old money elite, bureaucrats, royalists and sections of the media to some trade unionists.

This celebration of the street having more power than the parliamentary opposition, led by the Democrat party, is rooted in the PAD's success in early 2006. It launched a similar campaign to rid the country of the twice-elected Thaksin administration due to rampant corruption, nepotism and the abuse of power. Such street protests paved the way for the country's 18th coup on Sep. 19, 2006.

Not so fortunate were the country's rural poor, in the late 1990s, when the Democrat party was in government. A street protest similar to the PAD's that they launched to change government policies on rural environment and poverty issues were crushed. Police dogs, in fact, were used to attack the rural poor demonstrating outside the gates of Government House.

But former allies of Thaksin, whose electoral victories were built on his wide support among the rural poor, say that the PAD's challenge goes beyond anger towards the deposed former leader. ''This is to make sure to keep power with the non-elected elite,'' Chaturon Chaiseng, a former cabinet minister in the Thaksin administration, said in an interview.

''In Thai politics, there has always been a conflict between one side which wants to keep power with an appointed mechanism, like the military or appointed bodies, and those who want elected representatives,'' he added. ''This is the fundamental conflict that the current government faces.''

(END/2008)
______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu