Suthep's old 'reform' war cry unsettles the government
THE CALL for reform before election has been revived with the return of veteran politician Suthep Thaugsuban to the political scene. Suthep has insisted he will never return to politics, and what he is currently involved in is civil society politics.
Suthep has resumed his role as “Uncle Kamnan”, the nickname he got when leading massive street protests against the Yingluck Shinawatra administration for more than six months between 2013 and 2014. As secretary-general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), Suthep led a campaign for “reform before election”.
People who campaigned along with him during the PDRC-led rally have come out in support of Suthep’s revived call. These include Wanchai Sornsiri and Seree Suwanpanont, both now members of the National Reform Council (NRC). They both vowed to vote against the draft constitution in order to allow more time for national reforms to be completed before the next election.
Paiboon Nititawan, another NRC member with links to the PDRC, has suggested a national referendum on the new constitution should also ask voters if they agreed with reforming the country for two years before the next election. In effect, that is to ask the voters if they wanted the current government to stay on in power for two more years.
This government may overstay the road map’s deadline set in the post-coup provisional charter if the draft constitution fails to get endorsement from the NRC, or fails to pass a national referendum. However, that way the government would not stay much longer, as the interim charter states that a new referendum must be held six months after the first one. During that time, a new constitution drafting committee would be set up to write a new charter.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is the government’s chief legal adviser, said that if the new draft constitution does not pass referendum for the second time, the government has a solution for that scenario. This process would not become trapped in an endless cycle.
Before the interim charter was amended, this process would have gone on and on until the draft constitution passed a referendum.
The next general election could be held no later than mid-2017, which is in line with remarks by some figures in the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) who expected an elected government to be formed within 2017.
Paiboon’s suggestion comes with a clear timeframe when the next election is to be held. But the call by Suthep and his group has no time limit.
There has been no clear definition about “completion” of the reform. National reform is not like changing spare parts. The process is time-consuming and the time taken for different areas of reform varies.
It might come to pass that nobody knows with certainty how long it would take to complete the reform and whether the reform “is completed”.
This call for the next election to be held after the reform is completed may be just a ploy by some people who do not want to contest an election because they have no chance of winning.
Such a call seems to have caused uneasiness for the government and the NCPO. They are now in a difficult position, as they may be viewed with suspicion if the draft constitution ends up failing to pass the NRC. Also, Suthep’s call is likely to revive conflict in society despite attempts by the government and the NCPO to retain peace and order.
