A Kangaroo Court's Monkey Trial - Dissolution is No Solution

Earlier this month, Thailand’s Constitution Court justices showed the world that it is nothing but a Kangaroo Court, a political tool of the military/amart which instated them.  Instead of interpreting the statutes fairly and reasonably, they used some creative manipulations of the language in order to issue an injunction for Parliament to suspend its vetting of the charter amendment bill.  Their only purpose it seems was to delay if not stop entirely the bill.

Now, in what appears to be a blatant attempt to partially legitimize their miserable institution, the Constitutional Court judges accepted a petition that could dissolve the Democrat Party under the same Section 68 of the 2007 Constitution using the same warped reasoning.

Of course, these judges are now digging themselves deeper in the hole of political activism and unreasonable interpretations but now they are screaming from the depths of their self-made “chasm” (some call it “judicial mining” but justice really gets the shaft) that they are at least impartial in their hearing process to both political sides. 

At the heart of this dissolution case is whether or not the Democrat Party-led government under Abhisit Vejjajiva had assumed power over the country's administration by unconstitutional methods. If the Constitution Court rules that the Democrats contravened the Constitution then it could dissolve their long-established (in deceit and corruption) political party.

So, are the Democrats being sacrificed (thrown under the yellow bus) in order to slightly improve the Constitution Court’s legitimacy?  

It’s not as if the Democrats have been real effective for the military/amart.  Abhisit squandered the power gifted to him in 2008 by the Constitution Court when they dissolved the ruling People’s Power Party and when the military strong-armed other political parties to support the Democrats.   As the incumbent party going against political third stringers (and with some of them thrown in jail to boot), the Democrats were set up to win the general election last July.  Instead, they were handily trounced.   

If the tree isn’t bearing any fruit or producing any shade then one might as well chop it down for kindling wood.  Burn, baby, burn.

Now this isn’t the first time the Democrats faced party dissolution by the Constitution Court.  In 2010, there were two charges against them.  First, for misusing 29 million baht ($907,000) allotted to the Democrats from a government fund and second, regarding failing to report a donation of 258 million baht ($8.4 million) from petrochemical conglomerate TPI.  

Some compromising videos were leaked during that time to the public showing outrageous improprieties involving several judges with regards to that case.  Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court ultimately allowed the Democrats to weasel out of these charges by pulling a technicality from out of the back end of their robes.   

But that was then, this is now. And what a difference 19 months makes.  Now the Democrats, the so-called political party of the elite, have been behaving badly recently in parliament; watching porn, physically attacking opposition MPs, saluting Hitler, etc…

In essence, the Democrat Party has been behaving like a bunch of monkeys throwing their own feces around.  

Their usefulness to the military/amart has not only come to an end but now they are an embarrassment and may need to be removed.  Has some deal with Pheu Thai been made?

Personally, I’m against the dissolution of political parties in Thailand. It was wrong to dissolve Thai Rak Thai in 2007 and the People’s Power Party in 2008 and it is wrong to dissolve the Democrat Party now.  The dissolution of political parties only weakens the democratic process – but that’s how the military/amart wants it.  It’s a whole lot easier for them to step in and have a dictatorship that appears "to save the day."

The electorate should be the ones who ultimately determine who should govern and who shouldn’t – and not some unelected jurists. The electorate have shown much better wisdom by continually, over the past 20 years, not electing the Democrats to control Parliament. This is because they know that if the Democrats control Parliament then... the Democrats control Parliament. It's as simple as that.  And who really wants a bunch of monkeys who throw their own feces around to run their country?