Spicy twist to Thai political stew
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A passion for Thai cooking proved to be Thai Prime Minister Samak
Sundaravej's undoing - at least temporarily. A Thai court ruled on Tuesday that
the embattled premier had violated the constitution by appearing for payment on
a televised cooking program after assuming the premiership earlier this year.
The verdict by the nine-member Constitution Court ruled the premier had
fabricated evidence and it compelled the 73-year-old political veteran to
resign his post as leader of a six-party ruling coalition, which was elected to
power at general elections last December. Somchai Wongsawat, a deputy prime
minister and brother-in-law of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, will serve as
acting prime minister.
Tuesday's judgment does not preclude Samak from returning to
power this Friday, when his People's Power Party (PPP)-dominated parliament is
scheduled to pick a new premier. A party spokesman said after the verdict that
the PPP would re-elect Samak as premier.
The other five coalition members are expected to fall in step with the PPP's
final recommendation. It's notable, however, that a camp of PPP
parliamentarians representing the northeastern region, and often at loggerheads
with Samak for excluding them from decision-making, has expressed concerns
about re-electing Samak in light of other court cases still pending against
him.
Meanwhile the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest
group now occupying Government House has said it will stay put until all
vestiges of Shinawatra's administration are purged from power. Any surprise
move to install Somchai permanently as prime minister would no doubt provide
further fuel to the PAD's protests.
Indeed, some analysts believe Samak's reinstatement could lead to a new round
of brinksmanship by the protest group, which on August 26 raided several
government ministries and a state-run television station and has since refused
to move from its encampment around Government House, even after Samak declared
a state of emergency to disperse the PAD.
The superior court's dismissal of Samak is unprecedented in the country's
political history. He becomes the highest-ranking politician to lose a court
battle while in office and the first prime minister to be removed through a
legal process. The world, too, may have never witnessed the leader of a country
forced to resign for the misdemeanor of receiving a modest honorarium,
estimated at 5,000 baht (US$145), for serving as a television chef.
"There is something theatrical, something unreal, bizarre about this verdict,"
Michael Nelson, a German academic specializing in Thai political culture. "The
court forced the prime minister to step down for a small matter knowing full
well that he can be reinstated by his coalition parties in a few days."
It is only the latest farcical twist in a political drama unfolding on
Bangkok's streets which threatens to make the country a regional laughingstock.
The drama, which has pitted the PAD against Samak's administration, has seen
equally surreal turns, including the police being condemned for trying to
enforce the law and the army praised for disobeying it.
The PAD has played a leading role in the drama. After taking over a broad
street in a historic part of the capital for round-the-clock rallies three
months ago, the PAD accelerated its push to topple the Samak administration by
forcing its way into the prime minister's office grounds on August 26,
virtually crippling the workings of his government.
The government's efforts to use the law to force the PAD to leave, including
treason charges against the group's leaders, have so far failed to resolve the
crisis. The PAD's leaders, backed by supporters drawn from provincial areas,
the Bangkok middle class, royalists and some trade unionists, have flouted the
charges filed against them and in certain instances refused to obey court
orders.
The PAD's acts of defiance have been cheered by sections of academia, members
of civil society groups, opposition parliamentarians and even sections of the
media. The PAD, moreover, has revealed a controversial political agenda that
would appear to belie its own name. PAD leaders have said they want to replace
the prevailing electoral system with a partially appointed Lower House of
parliament.
That still-vague formula, described by its proponents as "new politics", is
aimed partially at stopping the election of governments like the ones led by
Samak and Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup,
returning to power. Samak and Thaksin were both victorious at the polls due to
huge support from the rural northern and northeastern regions.
Political analyst Nelson expects little change from the PAD following the
verdict, which was greeted with cheers of joy when broadcast at the protest
site. "They have been pushing for structural reform of Thai politics. I am not
sure if the judgment against Samak will have any bearing on what the PAD wants
to achieve."
If anything, the ruling against Samak confirms that the courts are taking
issues of conflict of interest involving parliamentarians and high-profile
figures more seriously. The verdict against Samak comes over a month after the
criminal court found Pojaman Shinawatra, wife of Thaksin, guilty of tax fraud.
"A standard is being affirmed by the courts on conflict of interest issues,"
Sunai Phasuk, Thai researcher for the global rights lobby Human Rights Watch,
said in an interview. "Those in power, no matter who they are, cannot violate
the law or the constitution and expect to get away."
An emboldened judiciary has made its mark since Thaksin's
five-and-a-half-year-term came to an end through the 2006 putsch. A special
tribunal appointed by the junta ruled against Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais
Love Thai) party for electoral fraud, disbanding it and suspending for five
years the party's 111 executive members' political rights.
This year, the courts issued a string of verdicts against government ministers
and the speaker of parliament, a known Thaksin ally. They ranged from electoral
fraud (which could eventually lead to the dissolution of the PPP), failure to
fully declare assets ahead of an election and violation of a constitutional
clause that mandates parliamentary scrutiny of any international agreement.
The conflict of interest charge against Samak, brought by a group of senators,
is mild by comparison. The show he appeared on was one in which he had been the
main star for seven years. The title of his popular show, Tasting and
Complaining, conveyed the personality of a man who has long been
involved in the cut-and-thrust of Thai politics.
He would often openly grumble about issues that bothered him as he prepared a
range of dishes, some of which were his own special recipes. "I was hired to
appear on the program and got paid from time to time," Samak told the court on
Monday. "I presented the cooking show and got paid for my acting." Although he
declined to comment on the decision, those aren't expected to be his last words
as a prime minister.
(Inter Press Service with editing and additions by Asia Times Online.)
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