An insult to anxious voters

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha seems utterly senseless in his continuing efforts to delay the election, most recently proposing to consult some – but not all – of the people and parties with a stake in the outcome about setting a date for the poll. The junta chief clearly doesn’t comprehend that voting for a national leader is a fundamental right of all citizens. He seized power through military might and has never won legitimacy to rule through electoral mandate, and yet continues to hold that basic right hostage as he bargains to cling on to power.
In his weekly television address last Friday, General Prayut laid out his current plan. Once all four of the necessary organic laws regarding the election are published in the Royal Gazette, he said, the Cabinet would tell the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to summon political parties, the Constitution Drafting Commission and the Election Commission for a discussion. He did not hint when the organic laws might be passed.
“The election date depends on the readiness and agreement of the parties involved,” he said, by which he meant the political parties and two appointed commissions, ignoring the millions of eligible voters whose opinions surely also count. By restricting the consultation only to his inner circle and politicians, Prayut is insulting the populace at large, whose patience is growing thin.
Prayut said the election was “important” and spoke again about moving forward “in accordance with the road map”, but in practice, the road map is only a decoy to throw off public perception. The junta has made it clear that democracy isn’t the end goal. It only wants to perpetuate its rule as long as possible. We have lately seen a series of delays in the passage of laws and other legal manoeuvres that have threatened to push the election date further and further away. Prayut, meanwhile, continues to insist that neither his government nor the NCPO have interfered with or directed legislators in a way that would result in the election’s postponement.
Prayut last year committed to an election in November 2018, but last month the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) passed an organic bill on the election of members of Parliament that effectively pushed the poll back 90 days – into 2019. Last week the NLA rejected a slate of Election Commission nominees, putting the selection process back to square one and possibly delaying the poll even further. The junta argued that the existing commission can manage the polling if necessary, disregarding the fact that one member will be too old to serve by then, thus hampering the commission’s work. It could potentially give the junta another excuse to stall the voting until a full commission is in place.
General Prayut’s credibility is waning with every broken promise and misleading statement regarding the election. Activists and politicians are being rolled into an anti-junta snowball, with attendance at their public events growing every weekend. If the junta gives in to the impulse to crack down on these dissenters, it will only face worse difficulties. Any attempt to undermine critics will backfire.
If Prayut really seeks the legitimacy that can assure him a continuing role in politics after the poll, he must set a firm election date and make sure nothing else crops up to cause further delays.