If Pheu Thai forgiven, brace for more corruption

The first showed that the only thing that mattered to the government was retrieving Thaksin’s seized assets. Rank and file MPs completely abandoned the premise of representing the people who put them in power. 

The charter-drafting committee has not mentioned this aspect of government, instead concentrating on revamping elections so that several parties have to share power, like in 2001, rather than when the Village Fund served to give the Thai Rak Thai Party victory in 2004. Political parties will just follow the money. The telecom satellite share-sale deal is now completely forgotten, even though that is what sparked the fall of the government in 2006. This policy also restricts the possibility of a socialist-type party ever being successful.

Now we are back to “We can’t waste time impeaching anybody from the last government or we will never get around to reinstating democracy – it will only upset people.” Citizens presumably prefer the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, whose leader played his part and retired to the monastery. 

What has the Pheu Thai Party done to deserve any mercy? Perhaps it will buy some of the government bonds to pay back the losses on the rice-pledging scheme and make a few more baht out of it. What it should do is apologise to the nation, sacrifice its corrupt leadership and repay the losses incurred from its own pocket. (Or from under the bed?)

Richard Bowler

Bangkok