Big difference in presidential authority

Does Kavi Chongkittavorn know the difference between a plurality and a majority? Although Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines with less than 40 per cent of the vote, Kavi says Duterte won by an “overwhelming majority”.

He then writes that the Philippines, like America, has a system of checks and balances. But in America the police are decentralised and only work for the city or town where they are located. So an American president would have no authority to order the police to run wild killing thousands of people. And no American president would ever call for the extermination of 100,000 of his fellow citizens. I want the readers to understand I’m not pro-Duterte, anti-Duterte, pro-Abhisit, anti-Abhisit, pro-Israel or anti-Israel. I’m just pro-rights. Now what’s so damn complicated about that?

Eric Bahrt