Country returning to undemocratic rule, warns senior Pheu Thai figure
WITH REPORTS predicting the setting up of a national unity government to tackle the political deadlock, veteran politician Phumtham Wechayachai said yesterday that the Constitution and the legal framework had indeed been designed to cause complications and difficulties that would draw the nation down the path to undemocratic rule.
“The political situation is on a course that shows we are going toward a dead end,” he posted on Facebook yesterday, amid a climate of rising fears that forming a democratic government may be impossible.
Phumtham, Pheu Thai Party’s secretary-general, has called on the public and all concerned parties to think carefully about the idea that a national unity government would be an appropriate way out of the so-called political impasse.
He said there was a democratic solution for everything, and if the authorities followed the law, all necessary procedures could be implemented smoothly.
Phumtham called on the authorities, including the Election Commission, to complete their duties responsibly and to prioritise national interest so the country can find a way to avoid a dead end.
His statement referred to confusion over the calculation for allocating seats in the Lower House. Unless the issue is settled fairly, critics see the allocation process as being potentially used to justify an agenda to establish a national unity government.
Democrat politician Thepthai Senawong floated the idea of forming such a supra-constitutional government after post-poll signs pointed to difficulties in setting up a new government with key rival camps seemingly neck-to-neck in MP counts.
However, the idea of a national unity government is not being welcomed by most politicians. Phalang Pracharat Party’s deputy spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana dismissed the idea again yesterday, insisting there was no need because his party would eventually form the government.
Though Phalang Pracharat, with 118 MP seats, is second to Pheu Thai with 138 seats in the Lower House, Thanakorn insisted yesterday that his party would set up the government through normal means.
A national unity government was impossible and the country has yet to reach a dead end, he said, adding that everything would be settled after the election results are announced officially next month.
Meanwhile, Thepthai who brought the idea to the table iterated that the next government would be unstable if not impossible.
“We cannot keep going without a government; it will affect the national administration and international confidence,” he said, continuing to argue for a national unity government as the solution.