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Chusak Sirinil, secretary-general to Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, has been named as a target of an opposition move to demand impeachment proceedings against the ruling People Power Party. The party is the bastard child, so to speak, of the former Thai Rak Thai party of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Everyone knows that Thaksin set up and still rules the PPP, although no one says so on paper.
One reason for not coming out of political closet is that a stigma has developed against the popular former prime minister – found guilty in his home country of corruption – who has been gallivanting around the globe telling people how wronged he has been and trying to regain the nation’s top post.
Thaksin is still seen by many as a hero, but one shrouded in the uncomfortable trappings of suspicion. To appear honorable and with their country’s interests at heart, Thai politicians, notably those in the PPP, are wont to avoid being openly identified with Thaksin.
But political winds in Thailand quickly change direction. Almost at the drop of a hat the body politic, the nation and even the palace would accede to Thaksin’s return – to Thailand and even to power – if that’s the way the wind blew.
Still, two things are blocking Thaksin’s successful return. First are the criminal convictions and other cases filed against him and his just-divorced wife. If people overlook these – as they did previous investigations, including why over 3,000 were killed in Thaksin’s anti-drug war – then he could return a welcome hero. All will be forgiven, if not forgotten.
The second thing that would block Thaksin’s return is continued resistance from Thailand’s elite. Love one another as they do, members of the elite class guard their own turf jealously, and Thaksin has stepped over onto too much private turf. Feelings are still tender, even among the highest elites. They might be willing to let bygones be bygones, but only if Thaksin offered them meaningful concessions.
Chusak Sirinil’s dilemma lies in the fact that Thailand’s Constitution, as it currently stands, allows a political party to be dissolved when one or more of its executive members is found guilty of criminal wrongdoing. This is what killed off the Thai Rak Thai party, and what hangs over the PPP and Chusak Sirinil. His party is accused of vote-rigging in the last election.
If the Constitutional Court in Bangkok finds even one party executive guilty, then the entire party will be dissolved. Such a ruling in the United States, to offer a comparison, could result in the destruction of the Republican Party should President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney be found guilty of war crimes. Surely this is too expansive a punishment?
That question is what drives resistance in Thailand to disbanding the People Power Party, but then the past dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai party stands in comparison. It is at this time highly likely that the PPP will face the axe. Party executives, with Thaksin behind them, have done their homework in this regard. If another new party must be formed, possibly Thaksin’s sister will take over the reins – and this will lead to continued political unrest in the country.
Like everywhere else, Thailand’s economy is feeling the whiplash from the global meltdown. But the worrisome factor is the effect that political and social instability will have.
Revolutions are not always made by overlords or an underclass of frustrated citizenry. Sometimes national political change, leaning way too far left or right, can occur because of pent-up frustrations and dogged determination on the part of uncaring, even ignorant, elites who could have led the nation out of, rather than into, chaos. We can only hope that this is Thailand’s future – that it will rise out of chaos, and not continue to fall into it.
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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
