Yingluck Impeached

[Flashermac]

Yep. It has nothing to do with the corruption that took place under her administration.

 

p.s. Remember the way she "rallied support"? - "Do you love Thaksin?" (Cheers from the red shirt crowds.) "Will you vote for his sister?" (Cheers from the red shirt crowds.)

 

No problem with Yingluck in the penalty box. Thaksin has other siblings. One of them is married to Somchai Wongsawat, whom Thaksin made prime minster after Samak got himself removed from office by insisting on breaking a law despite being warned not to. All Mr Square Face has to do is send in another substitute.

[JaiRai]

It's a farce, a distraction. The country is subtly going to shit in several ways, specifically the economy (but hey, we got a train deal with China right? These junta boys sure do know how to make things thrive). Power is being consolidated, and guess what -- those simple country folks shouldn't be allowed to make important decisions. Kudos to the junta for slowly implementing a structure where they can't. Hooray for martial law, let's party.

 

But even then, what's the purpose of going after Yingluck and threatening criminal charges... to shove folks nose in dung while they're already down? Pure unadulterated twats. The military morons are going to do more to rally people than Thaksin can (another apathetic figure in his own way).

 

Any way you slice it - it's stupid and pointless to make a spectacle out of persecuting Yingluck, other than to satisfy the appetites of the goons in Suthep's legion.

 

One gets a sense that a slow seismic shift is beginning to rumble. I hope my investment in Thai classes wasn't a waste and it's a place I can continue to be fascinated by (in a good way) five years from now.

[baa99]

Yep. It has nothing to do with the corruption that took place under her administration.

 

p.s. Remember the way she "rallied support"? - "Do you love Thaksin?" (Cheers from the red shirt crowds.) "Will you vote for his sister?" (Cheers from the red shirt crowds.)

 

...

 

It has absolutely nothing to do with corruption. It is all about power.

[Flashermac]

Just as Pheu Thai's going after Abhisit for allegedly dodging conscription was aimed at getting him out of the way. He did gain an exemption through becoming a lecturer at the Army academy and thus receiving a direct 2 Lt's commission, the bizarre way Thailand does things. Plus having Chalerm - two of whose sons were expelled from the police for faking their exemption papers - as a cabinet minister made going after Abhisit even more of a farce. But this is the way Thailand does things. It's called "true democracy".

 

p.s. Interesting that Thaksin's own son got a waiver from having to serve at all. I don't recall of reading about any politician or politician's son ever being conscripted. Only Somchai from Ban Nawk has to spend two years as a private.

[Flashermac]

Interesting comment made on the Bangkok Post:

 

"This defeat has more upsides for the PT than you can imagine. Many of their own politicians also think YS is incompetent. She herself is fed up with politics. Now they all get what they want and still get to play the "Oh poor little old me" card. And they know it very well."

 

 

However, in The Nation:

 

Members in the dark on future of Pheu Thai

 

 

PHEU THAI politicians are in the dark about the party's future following the impeachment of former premier Yingluck Shinawatra.

 

They appeared uncertain and said there had been no communication among party members since the impeachment of Yingluck on Friday.

 

Pheu Thai's success in the July 2011 general election could be largely attributed to its links with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted from power by a coup in 2006 but saw his influence rise when his youngest sister won power with the slogan "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai delivers".

 

The impeachment of Yingluck on Friday bans her from politics for five years. It also puts the Shinawatras in a difficult position - whether they are prepared to nominate another family member, such as Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat or Yingluck's sister Yaowapha, and whether voters are prepared to back them after the rice scheme fiasco.

 

Having no candidate from the family could prove to be a major setback for Pheu Thai in the next general election, expected in early 2016.

 

Former Pheu Thai MP Chavalit Wichayasut said he was not sure about the party's future because members are not allowed to gather for meetings under martial law, which was imposed by the National Council for Peace and Order after the coup and remains in place.

 

"We [party members] still have not spoken about it [party's future] because of martial law. Until then, nothing can be decided because party members must express their views before a party consensus can be formed."

 

When asked about the future involvement of the Shinawaras in the Pheu Thai Party, a former MP, Udomdetch Ratanasatien, said there was still a long way to go until the next general election, so nothing was certain at the moment.

 

"Pheu Thai as a party will carry on, however, the question on who will be involved, and to what extent, cannot be decided because there is still a long way to go until the next election," he said. Udomdetch said that since the impeachment vote had taken place only on Friday, there had been no discussion among party members yet. In addition, there were also restrictions because of martial law.

 

Former Democrat MP Nipit Intarasombat said Pheu Thai had come to a crossroads where important decisions would have to be made before it could re-emerge.

 

"They will have to choose whether to use the same approach where members of the Shinawatra family play a prominent role in the party, or whether there should be a significant change in the party's leadership and power structure, without the involvement of the Shinawatra clan," Nipit said.

 

Regardless of which path Pheu Thai members choose, Nipit said they could no longer stick to their old "thinking method".

 

They could no longer press on with their political agenda by claiming democratic legitimacy, while ignoring rules of law or the voice of the minority, he said.

 

http://www.nationmul...i-30252623.html

 

 

(I don't really see it being that much of a problem. The question is how much Thaksin is willing to continue playing politics. He may someday just decide he has had enough. Without him, PT would be a much weaker party - but maybe a better one.)

[Guest]

" It is all about who the military junta fears could rally public support."

 

" Yep. It has nothing to do with the corruption that took place under her administration. "

 

 

All In a nutshell .... the plan to break the cycle is comming together very nicely " The question is how much Thaksin is willing to continue playing politics "

[JaiRai]

[Flashermac]

What could happen (however unlikely) is that Pheu Thai might become a genuine "people's party" free of the domination by one wealthy family. Fly told me that he estimated about 10% of the Pheu Thai backers genuinely detest Thaksin. My Mrs belongs to the academic faction that backed the red shirts in 2010, even to the extent of coming to Bangkok and speaking on the stage. But she is anti-military and against the Chinese-Thai "Zaibatsu" equivalent who really hold power. She said to me, "Thaksin means nothing. We want real democracy."

 

Unfortunately, Thaksin's main concern is Thaksin, not the country. That doesn't make him different from the political poobahs who oppose him. He is more willing to use populist approaches to gain power, but his goal is still one of benefiting himself most of all. So are the upcountry political bosses who rallied to his party, and it is in their interest not to let democracy thrive in their fiefdoms.

[cavanami]

Another easy, soft kill...no meaning, IMO.

 

When will "they" do something substantial