Terrorism - Thaksin

[drogon]

AFP:

Its' done, the court approved the arrest warrant for Mr T...

[ThaiHome]

As party executive' date=' after his conviction in July 2008 the EC recommended the disbanding of the PPP as required by Article 237 of constitution. This was confirmed by the Constitution Court.

 

This was not a trumped up charge, it was real and he and the PPP knew the consequence when he committed the act.

[/quote']

 

I'm not sure what country you're from, but let's just take Britain for a moment. In the UK, if some MP gets caught paying a bribe like the one you describe, would people consider it appropriate to then ban the entire, say, Conservative Party permanently? Should some other politician who had nothing to do with this, who won his seat fair and square possibly, be punished for what this guy did?

 

I'm an anti-red person here, so it's not like you're talking to someone who supports Thaksin.

 

But I'm still able to see that there's things that are obviously wrong on both sides of this divide.

 

Disagreeing with the law is different then calling it a "trumped up charge".

 

I think everyone knows why this political party death sentence provison was put in the 2007 constitution.

 

To compare it with the UK or any western country is being a bit naive, don't you think?

 

TH

 

 

[Wallenda]

 

Disagreeing with the law is different then calling it a "trumped up charge".

 

I think everyone knows why this political party death sentence provison was put in the 2007 constitution.

 

To compare it with the UK or any western country is being a bit naive, don't you think?

 

TH

 

 

OK I hear ya -- tho I'm no Thailand vet so honestly I wouldn't say that I'm sure I know why that provision is in the constitution. Actually this is the first time I have learned that it comes from the 2007 constitution. No sarcasm. I'm learning.

 

I agree with you actually that it's not a trumped up charge but that it really was corruption and the verdict at least was correct, meaning that I agree the guy is guilty.

 

As far as me being naive, that's possible.

 

I guess even if that provision is there in order to be effective against (not sure quite what yet), still it seems like its' not working the way they hoped it would -- at least if stability and the perception of legitimacy is a goal. I'm only saying that because it seems now as if there's a large % of the electorate that view this govt as tainted at best, and I would think they see the PPP dissolution as something illegitimate. Whether you think it's right or wrong that it happened, this is obviously a problem.

 

Incidentally, a dream of mine that I wish would come true is that somehow THaksin gets extradited and they produce an audio tape that totally implicates him as masterminding this whole thing including assassinations, and thus he spends the rest of his life in a Thai prison exploring other sides of his sexual persona. That's where I'm coming from.

 

[ThaiHome]

This is pretty good.

TH

 

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[Pom Michael]

Similar to the provision from the 97 constitution that mandated MP's be members of their party for 90 days prior to an election.

 

This was designed to prevent MP's from moving from party to party (based on best offer) - but instead it tied MP's and potential candidates - as the PM at the time used it to keep coalition members in line.

 

Is this specific clause still in the 2007 constitution?

[LizardKing]

Wendella, you need to realize that Thai political parties, except the Dems, were formed to ultimately get one person elected. So they this not exactly like disbanding the Torys or the Republicans.

 

Regardless if you like the law, all parties knew about it. So they have no right to complain when it is enforced.

[Wallenda]

This is pretty good.

TH

 

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OK so what you're saying is that rampant vote buying was so big a problem in their system that they felt they needed to create a nuclear deterrent if they'd have any hope of stopping it. And first time out, it didn't work (I mean, someone went and passed out cash for votes regardless)

 

It does make me wonder how our own countries dealt with this particular problem all those years ago.

 

by the way, I dont' speak Thai at all -- was he clearly referring to vote buying with that? Could it have been possibly refering to anything else? But this is just a side note, I do take your point. I've heard enough that I feel pretty sure it's as you imply.

 

 

[Wallenda]

Wendella, you need to realize that Thai political parties, except the Dems, were formed to ultimately get one person elected. So they this not exactly like disbanding the Torys or the Republicans.

 

Regardless if you like the law, all parties knew about it. So they have no right to complain when it is enforced.

 

I hear you... though it seems as if democracy is still young enough that no party has much history. And moving forward it's gonna be a good thing if there's more than 1 established party, I think we'd all agree on that here. But yeah it'd be miserable if that other party turns out to be the Thaksin party.

 

And while they might not have the right to complain, it seems as if they do anyway. Which translates to a real world problem, one this solution at least has failed to deal with.

 

[Flashermac]

<< by the way, I dont' speak Thai at all -- was he clearly referring to vote buying with that? Could it have been possibly refering to anything else? >>

 

The way it sounded, he was talking about people being paid to protest - something he had always denied but suddenly seemed to be admiting. It's a clip from last year's rioting during Songkran in Pattaya and Bangkok.

 

 

I see the "Oxford-educated Abhisit" references as intended to show he is not really a "man of the people", not a good old boy like Bubba Thaksin from the North. I never heard anyone refer to the "Yale-educated George W. Bush" or the Harvard-educated "Al Gore Jr." I see naming Abhisit's university as trying to show he shouldn't really be Thailand's PM, since he is too smart and too western. Thailand needs a local leader - like the late Samak Sundaravej or ex-police captain Chalerm Yubamrung.

 

 

Meanwhile ... the other shoe has fallen:

 

 

Court issues Thaksin terror warrant

 

3:09pm

 

 

 

[color:red]The Criminal Court on Tuesday approved the Department of Special Investigation's request for an arrest warrant for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges.[/color]

 

The court approved the warrant after examining testimony given by DSI chief Tharit Pengdit, his deputy Pol Col Narat Savetanant and Pol Lt-Col Thawal Mangkhang, the DSI chief investigator, on Monday.

 

[color:red]The three presented the court with additional documents and clips of Thaksin speaking from abroad via video link to red-shirt rallies.[/color]

 

The court examination on Monday was held in camera. No reporters were allowed in the courtroom.

 

Pol Col Narat said after the court approved the warrant that the DSI would find out Thaksin's whereabouts. After that the Office of the Attorney General would contact the countries concerned to seek Thaksin's extradition.

 

The government earlier asked several countries, including the United Arab Emirates where Thaksin has stayed in Dubai, to send him to back Thailand to answer to a two-year jail sentence given by the Supreme Court in the Ratchadapisek land case, but to no avail.

 

Thaksin was reported to have be sighted in many countries, the latest being France where he was seen in Cannes during the film festival.

 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he believed the fact that Thaksin is now wanted on terrorism charges would make it easier for Thailand to obtain his extradition.

 

 

Rink

[Mekong]

Before people start shouting "Conspiracy" or "Trumped up Charges" here is an interesting fact.

 

Charges previously bought against 9 other Red Shirt Leaders and today bought against Thaksin are based in Law, on the 2003 ammendments to the Criminal Code, the ammandments were made to accomidate UN Security Council Resolution 1373. The 2003 ammendments were of course made whilst Thaksin was in office.

 

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