The Nation reports (my emphasis added):
The royal command, which was announced on TV pool at 9:29 am, states that the Council for Democratic Reform staged the coup to annul the previous charter, which was full of loopholes, so that a new charter could be drafted so His Majesty approved the interim charter pending the drafting of a new one.
That the announcement was made at 9:29 am is, again, probably not a coincidence. The report continues:
Among other things, the interim charter absolves the CDR for staging the coup.
Brilliant move. Legal genius. That will do it.
In fact, it’s all right there in Article 37. It ”grants complete immunity for all actions to seize power committed by the CDRM”.
Loopholes, eh?
I guess the Generals mean things like popularly elected national leadership, regulatory institutions, the ballot box. Fair enough, we wouldn’t want those loopholes in a national constitution. And The Nation tells us that “His Majesty the King has signed the interim Constitution”.
In some cultures, the colour yellow signals something other than royal allegiance.
4 responses so far ↓
1 XKMasada // Oct 1, 2006 at 9:11 pm
The headline of The Independent states it in a way that no Thai newspaper would have the balls to: ” Royalty and revolution: The absolute monarch” (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1747157.ece)
2 Bangkok Pundit // Oct 2, 2006 at 3:35 am
Nick
I have we will see more from you and Andrew on self-sufficiency economy.
The coup leader’s hierachy of priorities.
Priority No 1 Stage the coup
Priority No 2 Absolve yourselves from the illegal act of staging the coup
Priority No 3 Everything else.
This is why military governments rarely achieve much.
3 XKMasada // Oct 2, 2006 at 8:13 am
Actually…
Priority 3: Make sure you appoint a pliable backer as Prime Minister
4 New Mandala » “The last true military dictatorship” // Oct 4, 2006 at 8:18 am
[...] Early on, Williams calls Burma “the last true military dictatorship”. Unfortunately, since Williams made his documentary things have changed. Recent events in Thailand, demonstrate that in Southeast Asia Burma is now in good company. Thais may not like to hear it – but many have cheered on their military dictatorship. What would be worse would be to see a contest for the title of last true military dictatorship. [...]
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