Who will be held responsible?

The senate is expected to keep the Lower House in check. The charter-amendment bill is already passed for royal endorsement. The conduct in Parliament – where Pheu Thai converts its instructions into laws passed by the nodding heads on its benches – offers a good reason why the Senate should not be fully elected. If the charter amendment became law, there would be a repeat performance in the Upper House. Pheu Thai democracy is one man, one vote.

A legal expert yesterday warned the court that the bill is now a matter of royal prerogative, so the court could not rule on the matter.  To do so would be to commit lese majeste, it was suggested. But who commits lese majeste? Is it the court that warns His Majesty that the country is being stolen, or the people who presented the amendment bill to him?

Richard Bowler

Bangkok