The current “coup by stealth” currently being attempted in Thailand has captured the imagination of the international press. I first blogged about this last week on New Mandala and repeated the line in an interview with ABC’s Radio Australia on January 3. The “coup by stealth” line was taken up by Reuters and that report has been run by several news outlets internationally. Today the Bangkok Post online carries a story in which military figures reject the idea of a “stealth coup:”
Military laughs off stealth coup
The Council for National Security (CNS) on Saturday dismissed as laughable allegations by the People Power party (PPP) that military figures who launched the 2006 coup are behind alleged efforts to overturn the party’s election win through election red cards. Somjet Boonthanom, chief of the CNS secretariat office, yesterday said the allegation was “nonsense and impossible”. He said the CNS had nothing to do with an alleged campaign to overturn the election result and prevent the PPP from rising to power. Foreign analysts have said they fear a new, military-backed “stealth coup” will overturn the results of the Dec 23 election. An AFP analysis on Saturday wrote:
With so much at stake in the election, analysts thought it inevitable that the army and royalist establishment accused of inspiring the coup would pull out all the stops to ensure a pro-Thaksin administration did not emerge. Although there is no indication how many will end up disqualified, or “red-carded”, the high proportion of accepted complaints against the PPP and the EC’s distinct lack of openness has raised eyebrows.
“The idea of 65 suspicious cases against PPP seems odd,” said Kevin Hewison, a Thai politics researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “To change the course of the election you need between 20 and 30 red cards and that seems highly likely at this stage. They may well overturn the result.”
The pro-Thaksin PPP won 233 seats in the Dec 23 polls, exceeding most analyst’s expectations and until last week, seemed set to form a coalition government with a number of smaller parties. However, PPP leader Samak Sundaravej said there is a definite and concerted campaign to prevent the party from leading the next government. Some 65 PPP candidates who won seats in parliament in the Dec 23 election have still not been endorsed by the military-appointed Election Commission.
The Supreme Court is also set to hear charges that PPP is a nominee of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party, which, if proven, could see the party disbanded and the Dec 23 election results overturned. “The PPP has vented its spleen on the results because it is going to lose its interests,” said Gen Somjet. The EC has already disqualified three winning PPP candidates in Buri Ram under charges of vote-buying, drawing fierce protests from PPP supporters. Over 10,000 demonstrators rallied against the disqualification of the candidates on Friday, but Gen Somjet yesterday insinuated the rally was staged by the PPP. “The turnout of such a large amount of people is unusual,” he said. “Someone probably masterminded the demonstration and they were most likely politicians.”
Just so predictable!
10 responses so far ↓
1 nganadeeleg // Jan 6, 2008 at 7:26 pm
A potential witness in the PPP nominee case?
…..But Dr Andrew Walker, a Thai politics expert with the Australian National University has doubts about the strength of Samak’s leadership in the party.
WALKER: Samak’s had a range of political experience, he’s a very experienced political operator in Thailand, but the important thing is that perhaps his leadership is not so important given that as everyone acknowledges this is a proxy party for Thaksin oriented political forces, and it’s clear that Thaksin himself will have quite an important advisory role
2 Republican // Jan 6, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Now that we have the international media’s ear, time to tell it like it really is, which means using the language of “palace”, “monarchy”, “royalists”, “privy council”. This is what the royalist-military forces fear (they don’t care if we criticize the military, it’s part of the charade to hide the palace’s involvement). They are very sensitive to international opinion which is why the network’s international relations arm is working overtime. For the international community (especially one used to the “King and I” exotica) it’s one thing to have a “highly revered monarchy”, but it’s quite another to have a king who overthrows a democratically elected government.
3 Srithanonchai // Jan 7, 2008 at 1:36 am
Do the comments on the high number of cases by the ECT against PPP candidates imply that these accusations are false, or that they are selective, or that the proportion to the respective numbers of won MPs is distorted? Do the suggestions mean that the ECT should approve all elected MPs, that is without investigating cases of alledged electoral fraud? BTW, the case re PPP as a proxy for TRT was brought by Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a fellow Santi Asoke member of and (formerly?) close to Chamlong Srimueang of PAD fame. What does this suggest?
4 Teth // Jan 7, 2008 at 3:59 am
nganadeeleg: PPP IS a nominee, undeniably. But since when was it wrong for an individual to have ambiguous, not legally defined, personal links to other people? Is it now illegal to have friends in political parties?
Furthermore, what is to be done of Puea Pandin’s Surakiat, Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana’s Suwat, or Matchima’s Somsak?
5 nganadeeleg // Jan 7, 2008 at 11:07 am
Teth: At this stage I prefer to wait for the courts to decide what is wrong according to Thai law, and will be in a position to comment more when I see the reasoning behind any decision.
(I think a lot will depend on the extent of links to the banned persons)
I have read a report that PPP intends to deny it is a TRT/Thaksin nominee – that should be interesting
6 Colonel Jeru // Jan 7, 2008 at 3:01 pm
If PPP is a nominee, “undeniably”, then case is closed that party will be dissolved waiting for its reincarnation. Hopefully PPP would hire a more skillful lawyer than Teth so that the whole December2007 election would not be tchnically “overturned” because some stupid party fronted for TRT, already an “illegal” party.
It would does appear that PPP is being singled out for red and yellow cards and a more ominous Supreme Court hearing later on about its “proxy” status. Maybe so and maybe not. After all most of those PPP winning members suspected of election shenigans won at the -NorthEast where vote-selling and vote buying is norm, almost the culture. About PPP’s proxy-Samak and proxy-status, I too would have to wonder how Samak would squiggle his loud nose out of this one.
But if Thailand want a ‘rule of law’ then they should let EC continue on with its assigned task of disqualifying the voting cheats and the vote-buyers. Maybe the vote-cheaters and the vote-buyers will learn lesson, and again, maybe not.
7 fall // Jan 7, 2008 at 3:54 pm
If the Dems put in reverse gear and are not going to accept PPP as opponent, while CNS/EC seem dead settled on issuing reds and yellows like there is no tomorrow.
Remind me why we even had this Dec07 election again?
8 Louis // Jan 7, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Most Thai people do not even know their own history and are not allowed to talk openly about their own goverment’s head of state. There are only a few countries in the world where people are not allowed, by law, to talk about their heads of states in anything less than glowing terms. All of them are considered despotic regimes.
9 bangkokpundit // Jan 7, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Fall: Because when they planned the election, they thought PPP would lose.
10 The electorate and the “acute state of Thai politics” // Jan 28, 2008 at 10:42 am
[...] Thailand is edging ever closer to the formation of a democratically elected government. The coup by stealth has not eventuated, perhaps in part due to the realisation that the international credibility of the [...]
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