Thailand's National Counter-Corruption Commission is to press charges against 308 politicians, most from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party, for trying to change the constitution to make the Senate a fully elected chamber.
"Altogether we will press charges against 308 lawmakers ... Prime Minister Yingluck will not be charged," Vicha Mahakun, a director of the commission, told a news conference on Tuesday.
A court ruled in November that a government bill to amend the constitution was illegal but rejected an opposition request to dissolve the ruling party.
Parliament was dissolved last month. It was not immediately clear whether the charges will affect the candidacy of those standing in the upcoming February 2 election."
It is a very intriguing situation in Thailand. From what little I learned from some of my learnt friends in Thailand, the people who are against the government are not 'tyranny of the minority' but just 'a minority seeking some integrity' from the government elected in a democratic election process!
Lessons for me are:
1. the simple rule of democratic election, one-man-one-vote, system is: the politicians that got the majority votes win. Regardless of how the votes are won! Be it via pork-barrel politics or whatever as long as it is not outright buying of votes!;
2. the ruling party, supposedly controlled by Thaksin and his family, had the majority of the voters' votes. So, this government is legitimate! YET, the 'minority who are merely seeking some integrity' said: "The government has set many rules and made many deals just to enrich their own cronies and help pay for the 'benefits' to the voters who voted for them!" Some quoted the supposedly 'flawed' buying of rice from the farmers and getting the government to pay higher prices to interests allegedly controlled or related to the Thaksin's party, etc. So, it is quite confusing for the outsiders looking in as to what is happening to the democracy of Thailand;
3. yet in perhaps the clearest indication hat some of these allegations may be true, the Principals of ALL the unversities in Thailand actually signed a document and publicly supported the 'revolt' against the government!
This is a big question for those interested in democratic election system to select a government for a country to ponder. Do we have the 'tyranny of the majority' if the majority did not choose well or purely based on 'self interests' or the 'tyranny of the minority' who simply 'judged' that the majority had erred in elected a corrupt government?
"Altogether we will press charges against 308 lawmakers ... Prime Minister Yingluck will not be charged," Vicha Mahakun, a director of the commission, told a news conference on Tuesday.
A court ruled in November that a government bill to amend the constitution was illegal but rejected an opposition request to dissolve the ruling party.
Parliament was dissolved last month. It was not immediately clear whether the charges will affect the candidacy of those standing in the upcoming February 2 election."
It is a very intriguing situation in Thailand. From what little I learned from some of my learnt friends in Thailand, the people who are against the government are not 'tyranny of the minority' but just 'a minority seeking some integrity' from the government elected in a democratic election process!
Lessons for me are:
1. the simple rule of democratic election, one-man-one-vote, system is: the politicians that got the majority votes win. Regardless of how the votes are won! Be it via pork-barrel politics or whatever as long as it is not outright buying of votes!;
2. the ruling party, supposedly controlled by Thaksin and his family, had the majority of the voters' votes. So, this government is legitimate! YET, the 'minority who are merely seeking some integrity' said: "The government has set many rules and made many deals just to enrich their own cronies and help pay for the 'benefits' to the voters who voted for them!" Some quoted the supposedly 'flawed' buying of rice from the farmers and getting the government to pay higher prices to interests allegedly controlled or related to the Thaksin's party, etc. So, it is quite confusing for the outsiders looking in as to what is happening to the democracy of Thailand;
3. yet in perhaps the clearest indication hat some of these allegations may be true, the Principals of ALL the unversities in Thailand actually signed a document and publicly supported the 'revolt' against the government!
This is a big question for those interested in democratic election system to select a government for a country to ponder. Do we have the 'tyranny of the majority' if the majority did not choose well or purely based on 'self interests' or the 'tyranny of the minority' who simply 'judged' that the majority had erred in elected a corrupt government?
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