UpdatedCNN reports: "Thai court orders ruling party dissolved and bans prime minister from politics for five years"
AFP reports:
AP reports:"The constitutional court unanimously agrees to disband the People Power Party," said Chat Chonlaworn, head of the nine-judge Constitutional Court panel.
"As the court decided to dissolve the People Power Party, therefore the leader of the party and party executives must be banned from politics for five years," he added.
Tuesday's ruling raises hopes that thousands of anti-government protesters will end their siege of the country's two main airports.The BBC reportmentions that ". . . under the constitution most of its MPs can keep their seats under another party name, and should be able to form another government, correspondents say."
Constitutional Court President Chat Chalavorn said the "court has decided to dissolve the party to set a political standard and an example."
He said "dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system."
Update: Straights Times reporter is live blogging at the courthouse where many pro-government demonstrators have gathered. Also, Bangkok Pundit has further updates.
Photo: © Douglas Morton / APMS. Used with permission. Shows Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawa, who has just been banned from politics along with other party leaders, at the Emergency Cabinet Meeting on the afternoon of 27 Nov. 2008 at the Chiang Mai Provincial Government office.
I'm so clueless when it comes to Thailand. What does this mean long-term for the Thai people and their international partners?
ReplyDeleteHi J-P,
ReplyDeleteGood question!
If they can pull themselves together, not so much. But the divisions appear deep, and they are regional. Thailand was the first, and has continued to be a relatively stable democracy in Southeast Asia.
You have an educated people questioning whether real democracy is the best path forward. A lot of Thais will tell you Western-style democracy is not the best way for them.
When a sizable quite free and democratic country in a major world region turns its back on democracy, it sends a signal. Perhaps it will even prove indicative of a broader trend in the developing world.
Thailand has had everything going for it.
The regions that were disenfranchised by the Bangkok elite yesterday have grown stronger than before in modern times. One doubts they will let the center take away what they have won for themselves without putting up a fight. Now that they have access to televisions, the people know what's really going on. And the center may not be able to govern without becoming far more authoritarian.
Thailand has everything going for it and it will continue to have whether it rightly "turns its back on western [American style] democracy" or not.
ReplyDeleteThe question is how well will Thailand do when America finally collapses and in doing so drags the rest of the world down with it. Like a petulant child America won't go without making everyone else miserable.
Thailand's internal questions won't be solved before nearly a century of American hegemony catches up with us.
Chok dee
Chok dee,
ReplyDeleteThailand has everything going for it and it will continue to have whether it rightly "turns its back on western [American style] democracy" or not.
It's not American-style democracy, as America is a republic, and Thailand a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary system, far more closely resembling the British model.
It may sound nit-picky to bring this up, but parliamentary systems of democracy -- especially under constitutional monarchies -- have proven an especially successful form of government, if judged by quality of life of the people in these states.
However, courts that overturn election mandates are outside such a model. In fact, it is not unlike what the Americans did in 2000. I'm talking about when the US Supreme Court preemptively awarded Florida and the election to Bush.
With all due respect, the use of polarization: yellow shirts - red shirts, so-called elites v. the uneducated poor, the monomaniacal "decider" mentality of Thaksin, the looting of the Treasury by he and his cronies, Thaksin's disrespect for the monarchy are all taken from the Ameristani play book as perfected by Carl Rove and Dick Cheney. Don't even get me started on the Ameristani controlled IMF and the damage that organization did to this wonderful country!
ReplyDeleteAmeristan is not a republic, not in practice. It is an oligarchy.
And, if parliamentary style governments are doing so well how do you explain the mess that UK is? For that matter, if in fact parliamentary style government is so successful why is it that governance world wide is so abysmally poor? Of course, poor governance isn't limited to only parliamentary style governments.
Thailand has a 2550 year history. My bet is that throwing off Ameristani, parliamentary or any style of government that has been proven to be an abject failure for one that Thais create for themselves will be much more to their benefit.
Whether farang like it or not.
Chok dee
With all due respect, the use of polarization: yellow shirts - red shirts, so-called elites v. the uneducated poor,
ReplyDeleteThe yellow shirts were a symbol of support for HM the King until May when PAD appropriated the symbolism for their agenda.
...the looting of the Treasury by he and his cronies,
It's not as if Thaksin left such a terrible fiscal policy in place. After all, Thailand's economic fundamentals are far sounder today than prior to the 1997 crisis. You may not agree with where all the money went, but his policies left the overall economy humming along. The same cannot be said for the Bush Administration.
And, if parliamentary style governments are doing so well how do you explain the mess that UK is?
Norway, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands.... All constitutional monarchies, like Thailand, thriving with a tried and proven democratic systems.
Thailand has a 2550 year history.
Thais may use the Buddhist calendar -- 2008 is 2551 -- but when Thai history began is another matter.
My bet is that throwing off Ameristani, parliamentary or any style of government that has been proven to be an abject failure for one that Thais create for themselves will be much more to their benefit.
First, Thailand is one of the world's most successful developing countries. The Thais have not had "Ameristani, parliamentary or any style of government" imposed on them. They have achieved what they have achieved on their own.
But like successful societies everywhere, the Thais have tried to learn from others, and tried to copy best practices. It was not by accident Thailand did not get colonized.
But for Thailand to turn its back on it's own home-grown democratic institutions and traditions poses far greater risks. Thailand's democratic institutions are most certainly Thai, and go back at least seventy or eighty years.
Perhaps no country in Asia has a prouder or stronger democratic tradition than Thailand.
The yellow shirts were a symbol of support for HM the King until May when PAD appropriated the symbolism for their agenda.
ReplyDeleteOf course. You are however ignoring Thaksin's cynical use of TRT slogans and his even more cynical premise that a bloody billionaire has any populist leanings. You don't become a billionaire because you are a populist. He adopted that after repeatedly being rebuffed by the political establishment. He quite literally bought the Premiership by throwing his money at the electorate after forming his own party. Hardly a paragon of virtue that one.
It's not as if Thaksin left such a terrible fiscal policy in place. After all, Thailand's economic fundamentals are far sounder today than prior to the 1997 crisis.
Don't even go there. The economy would have been allot better off today were that it didn't have to pay a huge ransom to the Ameristani controlled IMF and change its laws to more in favor of the corrupt extremist-capitalist neo-CON fascist western corporations. An area that Thaksin exploited for his own filthy benefit.
Norway, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands.... All constitutional monarchies, like Thailand, thriving with a tried and proven democratic systems.
Canada's government is on it's way out after only two months. Austraia's brought us Howard whom we all know was a paragon of governance. The Scandinavian countries have been somewhat more successful. Denmark much more so than the others. Sweden had it's own problems and Iceland is a glaring example of awful governance.
First, Thailand is one of the world's most successful developing countries.
So then why are you so incensed at PAD? There is enough success to be able to whether this storm don't you think?
But for Thailand to turn its back on it's own home-grown democratic institutions and traditions poses far greater risks.
More than a government a year on average since the first constitution shows that democracy isn't an appropriate form of government for Thai people. It's worked out rather well for home grown and foreign corporations though.
Governance worldwide has been an abject failure for decades. Ameristan is the most glaring example of failure of governance there is. I pray that Thais never have to live under the yoke Ameristanis suffer under.
Chok dee,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
More than a government a year on average since the first constitution shows that democracy isn't an appropriate form of government for Thai people.
Who is to say what is an appropriate form of government for the Thai people? I think that's up to the Thai people, and so that's why democracy is important, so we have the Thai people decide what's best, not just a few people who wear yellow shirts.
It's worked out rather well for home grown and foreign corporations though.
Well, so has it in China, which is by no means a democracy. And in the US they suffer, largely because of their stagnating democracy.
So what you view as the problem, strikes me as more the solution. More democracy, more transparency, not less, being the answer.
I don't think a perfect system of government is out there, not even the Thais will never achieve this. This does not mean any democratic system cannot be improved. Democracy can always be improved.
The point about democracy being that it's the easiest form of government to fix when thing go wrong; democracy does not mean problems won't happen. There will be bad leaders, etc. But with democracy the mechanism to replace bad leaders is there. As recently happened in the US and Australia, and maybe soon Canada.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to agree to disagree.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Chok dee is Thai for good luck. It's not a name.