Three words that many hoped they would never see spoken or read in a phrase. The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has decided to form a political party, and no doubt that is the first good news Thaksin has heard in some time.
Some time back when the PAD first floated the idea of becoming a party, Connecting the Dots spoke up and pointed out the consequences of such a decision. In more recent days political annalists have also entered their opinion and it matches what Connecting the Dots said.
This decision most certainly leaves the Thai political bender on the puree setting, and clearly will have significant influence on the entire makeup of Thai politics.
What Thaksin is happy about is the PAD is about to lower themselves into the very restricted box that the Constitution has made for politicians. This will clearly give Thaksin a significant edge as technically Thaksin is not in that box. Thaksin is free to rape pillage and loot just as long as he stays out of reach of the Thai authorities. As a group and not as a party, The PAD have the same advantage. If this were a children’s story, it amounts to a warrior putting down his sword and taking up farming.
Thaksin is also happy that the PAD as a party will siphon off votes from the Democrats. What the political landscape is likely to become is politicians divided along the lines of corruption. The ones that miss the fat wallet will fall to one side, while the other side will have the countries best interest in mind.
With the PAD and their goal of ‘New Politics’ that only looks good on paper, will discover getting people to buy into giving up their voting rights because they lack an adequate education is just a dream at best. Just that though alone will make people jump on the Thaksin Bandwagon.
When the next battle gets up to full steam again, the PAD will effectively have it’s hands tied. As appearance is so much a part of being Thai, being the people fighting for the people is appealing, but to be a politician ‘the cause of the division in Thailand’ is not. Simply the PAD will lose a lot of clout and association with the people the moment their party is official. Rest assured Thaksin is all excited waiting for that to happen.
Another thing is before 2006, Thais had only a casual interest in politics. But now it is in their face everyday and many have taken a solid stance one way or another, hence the divide. Most Thais will be happy when this will all go away and they can once again return to what may be viewed as a normal life and allow that smile to return to their face. But as long as Thaksin is around that simply will not happen.
No matter how you cut it, the PAD becoming a political party helps Thaksin even that their intentions are completely opposite. The best bet would be to sponsor a party that can be seen as not part of the PAD but shares it’s values. Thaksin is doing this with the Pheu Thai Party so the concept is feasible. That way the PAD can remain a force of the people and not be seen as a political player.
Sceptics have pointed out that the main reason why the PAD is forming a party is that it, as a political movement, no longer has a real purpose. From its early days, more and more people joined the PAD to drive Thaksin and his subsequent proxy governments out of power. It reached its height in 2008, culminating in the airports closure and the installation of the Abhisit government.
Now, particularly after the Son Kran riots, Thaksin has been a much less visible figure in the public (and you’ve done a good job constantly putting him back in the picture). The PAD realises that, apart from being the main anti-Thaksin force in Thailand, it doesn’t have any other purpose to exist, at least in the eyes of the public. It has tried before to sell its ‘New Politics’ idea to people, but the response wasn’t too positive, as we all know. For now, setting up a party seems to be just another way to tell the world that the PAD still has a purpose. It’s a way to keep those donations flowing and those ASTV revenues coming.
You said it’d be better for the PAD to support a party while staying out of parliamentary politics itself. In fact, Suriyasai has recently argued that it is necessary for the PAD to be in Parliament in addition to being a pressure group simply because the Thaksin side already has a presence in both Parliament (Peu Thai) and in the streets (the red shirts). Essentially, the PAD is trying to match the Thaksin camp, hoping to open up a battle against Thaksin in Parliament while continuing to fighr him in other arenas.