Anti Thaksin protesters invoking Government eviction section of Constitution

In what seems to be an emergency reset section of the 2007 Thai Constitution, the anti Thaksin protesters seem to have the Constitution on their side. However as this section of the Constitution has never been tested, there are scholars and professionals on both sides of the yes you can and no you can’t argument. But when you step back and look at the big picture about Thaksin and his massive corruption, people just naturally want to give it a go and hope it works. That is except for Thaksin and his beneficiaries of corruption.

When important documents are written such as a Constitution, the most important things are at the top. In the US it is the freedom of speech and freedom of expression amendment. In fact what is known as the Bill of rights is the first 10 amendments of the US constitution.  In Thailand it is the first 7 sections that set forth the structure of the remainder of the constitution. They read as follows:

Section 1. Thailand is one and indivisible Kingdom.

Section 2. Thailand adopts a democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.

Section 3. The sovereign power belongs to the Thai people. The King as Head of State shall exercise such power through the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers and the Courts in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

The performance of duties of the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Courts, the Constitutional organizations and State agencies shall be in accordance with the rule of laws.

Section 4. The human dignity, right, liberty and equality of the people shall be protected.

Section 5. The Thai people, irrespective of their origins, sexes or religions, shall enjoy equal protection under this Constitution.

Section 6. The Constitution is the supreme law of State. The provisions of any law, rule or regulation, which are contrary to or inconsistent with this Constitution, shall be unenforceable.

Section 7. Whenever no provision under this Constitution is applicable to any case, it shall be decided in accordance with the constitutional convention in the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.

So as it is, the Anti Thaksin protesters look to invoke section 3 of the Constitution for the following reasons. When the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) led government consciously chose to defy a ruling of the Constitutional Court regarding the restructure of the Senate that would have lead to absolute power, the Government crossed the line. That behavior violated the second paragraph of section 3 that reads:

The performance of duties of the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Courts, the Constitutional organizations and State agencies shall be in accordance with the rule of laws.

When they did that, they openly violated the Constitution and became an illegitimate  Government. They violated the mandate of the people who elected them to office expecting that they would uphold the laws of Thailand.

There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that was Thaksin arrogance and anger showing. As Thaksin sees himself above the law, the behavior matches his known behaviors. Adding to that the move to impeach the judges simply is Thaksin looking to punish people that get in his way.

That does not include all the other things like the let me off the hook Amnesty bill that violates all principles of right and wrong by letting criminals go unpunished. There are other things as well, and collectively there is certainly enough justification to invoke section 3 of the Constitution.

How that will unfold is still unknown to us as we have not looked in depth at to how the law must be invoked. But is does seem the King must make some appointments to start the ball rolling. Also once that is done, it could take some time before new laws are in place to further deal with corruption. That time could be up to 2 years and for the most part, this is perhaps the last option the people of Thailand have short of killing Thaksin to stop his self serving influence. In the long run this will strengthen Thailand against corruption, giving the young Thais of today a better shot at a more prosperous future.

We can however expect Thaksin will resist all that he can and the PTP will at least pretend they are still the legitimate Government by going through all the actions of being a Government. How far they will get is unknown, but with the friends of Thaksin list getting shorter by the day, it seems the end of the road is coming for Thaksin.


Comments are closed.