Baht&Sold Thailand // View topic - PPP putting Nation at risk
PPP putting nation at risk
source: Bangkok Post EDITORIAL May 22 2008

Disregarding all advice not to rush in their attempt to amend the current Constitution, the People Power party and its supporters in the Senate yesterday submitted a draft constitutional amendment in Parliament, which is expected to debate the issue in a special session next month.

In the meantime, the anti-Thaksin Peoples Alliance for Democracy has vowed to hold rallies in protest against the PPPs move.

The draft constitutional amendment is practically a carbon copy of the so-called Peoples Constitution of 1997, but with several additional clauses - the most controversial among which are aimed at doing away with all the orders issued by the coup-makers, including the one setting up the Assets Scrutiny Committee ASC to investigate alleged corruption and abuses by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, his family and cabinet members. Perhaps more controversial and sensitive is a new clause which seeks to make Buddhism the national religion.

Like all previous charters that were enforced and eventually torn up, the current Constitution which was drafted by a military-installed Assembly and endorsed in a national referendum is flawed and needs to be rectified. Even the opposition Democrats agree the charter needs amending - but not in such suspicious haste as is being undertaken by people handpicked by the PPP, without public participation. The PPP failed to consult even its coalition partners on this.

The PPPs bid to amend the charter is self-serving and has nothing to do with the public or national interest. The attempt to ram through the draft amendment in a hurry is meant not only to spare the PPP from possible dissolution due to electoral fraud allegedly committed by one of its top executives, it is also aimed at sparing Mr Thaksin, his family and some followers from all the corruption cases being investigated by the ASC.

Besides being self-serving, it appears the PPP wants to rally support from Buddhist nationalists to endorse its draft amendment in a national referendum, by including a clause to enshrine Buddhism as the national religion. The PPPs action in this regard clearly shows its complete insensitivity to the issue and its total disregard for the adverse consequences that could follow, especially in light of the escalating insurgency in the deep South where Islamic militants are fighting for a separate homeland.

Also, with His Majesty the King as a Buddhist and upholder of all religions as already stipulated in the charter, there is no need at all for Buddhism to be formally recognised as the national religion.

Now that the constitutional amendment issue is to be debated in Parliament next month, it appears there is no turning back for the PPP. In the meantime, the anti-Thaksin PAD appears determined to oppose the move. A confrontation seems inevitable and the spectre of a potentially violent political crisis again looms large over the horizon.

It would be very sad if the country is allowed to slide into a political dead end. Both the PPP and the PAD - if they have any conscience at all and if they really have good intentions toward the country - should each take a step back and avoid violent confrontation at all costs. Otherwise they will have to bear responsibility for any adverse consequences. In the meantime, the silent majority must speak up and send a clear message to the two opposing political forces - that the people do not want or need another political crisis.

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