From the word ‘Go’ the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) has been an embarrassment to Thailand when viewed from outside. In fact they may qualify as an embarrassment to politicians as a whole from any country.
Politicians are elected to serve the people, but apparently the PTP never received that memo. Virtually everything they have done has been to serve themselves and their master the convicted fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra. Even when the democrats came to power they simply chose to be the angry bad boy, and not look at others for examples.
Watching from the sidelines there was always hope that they would change their ways with the next thing they did, but that has never happened. In fact they seem to go out of their way to make trouble and even meddle in affairs of the government that they have no business in.
It would seem that they lack what it takes to be properly effective as an elected body. But the embarrassment to Thailand comes that they will probably be elected again. How that will happen will more than likely be the same method used to get them elected the first time, and that is vote buying.
Quoting The Nation;
“Thailand is the only country vote-buying rampant”
Thailand is almost the only country that vote-buying is still widespread, Election Commission chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said on Monday.
Apichart was voicing his concern at the time the country is gearing towards amending its highest law of the land in the hope to reform political structure that brings political reconciliation and ensures free and fair election.
The EC is organising a seminar joined by local leaders, local intellectuals, and local politicians to promote local democracy and national reconciliation.
Apichart said that three yeas of working at the post, he saw that the country’s democracy had continued to be marred by rampant vote-buying.
“I do not know when this problem is going to cease. I have been to many foreign countries, we are almost the only country that vote-buying still exists. Foreigners are taken by surprise that we still have this problem,” he said.
He called on law makers and other concerned parties to establish measures that eradicate the electoral wrongdoings so that society has only good-breed politicians and good governance.
Aside from the fact the Constitution is set up to provide serious penalties for vote buying, there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the PTP will be the main culprit when the next elections come to be. With the huge funding Thaksin will provide, it almost seems a sure bet the PTP will get elected again.
In fact a new party that was spawned from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) primary platform plank is all about ending this practice and putting an end to lesser educated Thais selling their votes to the highest bidder.
So with that said, there is little doubt as to why the PTP party want to change the Constitution so they will not be penalized for being bad. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that they have no intention of changing and still look to be an embarrassment to the dignified elected positions of members of Parliament.
