When you read the recent news of the activities and statements made by Thaksin Shinawatra, it is easy to see he is ready to make his move. It is also known that Thaksin’s own mouth is his own worst enemy. Interviews with the media and in particular with the New York Times, enough consistent and arrogant statements have been said that signal the final or latest push is underway. But this will be no ordinary push as the anti Thaksin people have significant weapons, and it all may come down to who can get to the goal the fastest wins all.
It has been said that the Thai Constitution was written in a way to keep Thaksin out of power. Whether that was true or not will likely be put to the test. Thaksin is clearly a creature of habit, and article 68 of the Constitution does seem tailor made to deal with Thaksin’s known behaviors.
Quoting Thailand’s 2007 Constitution;
Section 68. No person shall exercise the rights and liberties prescribed in the Constitution to overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State under this Constitution or to acquire the power to rule the country by any means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in this Constitution.
In the case where a person or a political party has committed the act under paragraph one, the person knowing of such act shall have the right to request the Prosecutor General to investigate its facts and submit a motion to the Constitutional Court for ordering cessation of such act without, however, prejudice to the institution of a criminal action against such person.
In the case where the Constitutional Court makes a decision compelling the political party to cease to commit the act under paragraph two, the Constitutional Court may order the dissolution of such political party.
In the case where the Constitutional Court makes the dissolution order under paragraph three, the right to vote of the President and the executive board of directors of the dissolved political party at the time the act under paragraph one has been committed shall be suspended for the period of five years as from the date the Constitutional Court makes such order.
More or less it is Thaksin’s ‘C’ team that is in power at the moment, and the ‘A’ team became available June 1, 2012 after their 5 years in the penalty box ended. So to sacrifice the ‘C’ team is not too hard of a pill to swallow for Thaksin. Also by getting another one of his sisters ready to be a potential future Prime Minister should he fall short of his goal, simply says this plan has been well thought out.
Also with a huge push for 2 Trillion Baht for infrastructure that is said to take 50 years to pay for, common sense says this is just too big and too ripe to resist corruption. So to have corrupt politicians looking to tap this thing with way too many zeros before the decimal, it very possibly leaves Thailand too broke to do other things to feed future corrupt politicians with other projects. For what it is worth, this is classic Thaksin thinking.
So when you start to connect the dots, it says Thaksin has calculated that there will be an Article 68 battle, but if he gets a huge chunk of money from this 2 Trillion Baht package, it will have been worth the effort and to try again another day to get his old chair back at the Government House. Getting a load of money and getting rid of the ‘C’ team with options to seat the ‘A’ team, this becomes a bit of a no brainer for Thaksin.
