Tag: thailand

Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand’s nearly one-month-long Senate selection process kicked off last week, amid accusations that the system is skewed in favour of the conservative establishment, and as legal threats against the opposition risk derailing tentative steps back towards democracy.

After seizing power in a 2014 coup, the Thai military directly appointed 250 people to the upper house in a move seen as an attempt to stymie meaningful political reform as the country transitioned back to a flawed democracy. After last year’s election, the senators blocked the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) from forming a government, even though it had won the most seats in parliament and the largest share of the vote.

The Senate’s role in choosing the prime minister was temporary, however, as was its direct appointment by the military. This month a new batch of 200 senators is being selected from the leaders of key industries, in a complicated weeks-long process where only registered candidates are allowed to vote.

Candidates must be over 40 years old, have 10 years of experience in their field, not be a current member of a political party, and pay a registration fee of 2,500 baht ($68). Ten candidates will be selected from 20 occupational groups, including government, law, education, arts and culture, and women’s affairs. The final round of voting is expected on June 26, with results announced on July 2.

“The new lot of senators will have two key roles,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor and senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“Constitutional change requires one-third of the 200 new senators. Equally important, the new senators will have oversight over appointments of the Election Commission and Constitutional Court.”

The current constitution was promulgated under the military in 2017, and calls for it to be amended or scrapped have grown in recent years. Rulings by the Election Commission and Constitutional Court, meanwhile, have seen pro-democracy political candidates and parties dissolved and banned.

Most recently, they have turned their attention to MFP. The Election Commission recommended that the Constitutional Court dissolve the progressive party based on its calls to reform the controversial lese-majeste law, which criminalises criticism of the monarchy. The Constitutional Court is still deliberating and could announce its decision on Tuesday. It previously ruled in January that MFP’s reform attempts were tantamount to attempting to overthrow the monarchy.

Thitinan said that given the continued importance of the Senate, it was “being contested fiercely”.

“There will likely be moves by the conservative establishment, including the Election Commission, to make sure the Senate does not end up with enough progressive voices to change the constitution,” he said.

Even the constitutionality of the senate selection has been challenged, with the Constitutional Court expected to deliver a verdict on its legality on Tuesday morning.

Ruchapong Chamjirachaikul, a member of the legal advocacy group iLaw, said the process was “neither fair nor democratic” and that was intentional.

“The problems you see in the process are a feature not a bug… a lot of them are by design,” he said, adding that the process should not be called an “election” but a “selection”.

Chamjirachaikul said his team has already received some reports of irregularities, like former generals registering to represent the agriculture sector, or people being offered 10,000 baht ($270) to register and vote for a specific candidate.

‘Tainted’

June, a 26-year-old assistant to progressive candidate Nongyao Nawarat, a retired professor of sociology at Chiang Mai University, said the “unfair selection system” was designed to prevent young people from participating.

She said the approach showed the establishment was scared of younger voters and their demands for reform, and would do whatever it took to block real change. Before the election, progressive activists and candidates activated their grassroots networks, encouraging as many people sympathetic to the movement as possible to register as candidates.

“Of course, conservatives do similar things,” June said. “And they still [have] the advantage of spending more money. But I still believe in the power of the people on our side.”

Because of the way the process is structured, it is impossible to counter conservative organising without encouraging contacts to register with the intention of voting for somebody else. But Chamjirachaikul said the progressive strategy was to be “open and transparent”.

“We have a public event and ask any candidate to come to this event, the press are allowed to be there, and they will introduce themselves in the open,” he said. “You have to say what you stand for – new constitution, amending lese-majeste, democratic principles, are you against another coup?”

Chamjirachaikul stressed candidates needed to sign up, even if they did not expect or even want to win a seat, in order to vote.

“We don’t pay anyone, we don’t even have the money to pay anyone. But if you’re over 40, have the money, have the time and want to contribute to democracy, you can register and vote for somebody who shares the same vision of democracy for Thailand as you,” he said.

He said the eventual senate will lack representation and accountability, which will further tarnish the body’s reputation, already “tainted” by years of acting as a proxy for the military.

“When you don’t have clear representation you don’t have clear accountability, unlike MPs who would have to be confronted by their own constituencies, but who are these new senators’ constituencies? There’s no one,” Chamjirachaikul said.

However, even with the selection issues, Thitinan said the next senate would “still be more representative of the Thai people compared to the expired 250-member senate which was chosen by the military”.

This is in line with other modest reforms since last year’s election, which saw the moderate pro-democracy Pheu Thai Party form a coalition government with conservative and military-backed parties.

But Chamjirachaikul said it was worth asking why Thailand needed a Senate at all. “We as Thais should be able to debate and discuss on this openly,” he said. “We’ve seen enough of the Senate.”

June said regardless of what the establishment did to hold back the tide, youth activists would continue fighting for change.

“We are the new generation. We will do whatever it takes to change this country for the better. It may not happen in a single session or in a single night. But it will gradually change.”

EXPLAINER

Courts due to hear cases on Tuesday on PM Srettha Thavisin, the Move Forward Party, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and the Senate elections.

The future of Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin as well as its leading opposition party looks set to be decided this week in four key court rulings that risk triggering a new political crisis.

The courts are due to announce rulings in four cases on Tuesday involving Srettha, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the leading opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), and the election process for a new Senate.

Thailand’s politics has been marred for years by a struggle between its military-backed conservative-royalist establishment, and populist and reform parties such as those backed by Thaksin and MFP, leading to mass protests and military coups.

“These cases highlight the fragility and complexity of Thailand’s political climate,” ANZ Research said in a note, warning of the potential for renewed protests.

What is the prime minister’s case?

Srettha, who made a fortune in property before getting into politics, became prime minister last August after Pita Limjaroenrat, who led MFP to victory in the May 2023 elections, was blocked from forming a government.

On Tuesday, he faces a decision – or potentially another hearing date – from the Constitutional Court on whether he breached the constitution by appointing someone to his cabinet who had a previous conviction.

Srettha, who denies any wrongdoing, could face dismissal if the court rules against him.

If he is removed, his Pheu Thai Party would need to propose a new candidate for prime minister and parliament would need to vote on their appointment.

What is the case against MFP?

A second case could lead to the dissolution of the reformist Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in last year’s election as well as the largest share of the vote.

The Constitutional Court is due to announce its decision on an Election Commission complaint that alleges the party broke the law by campaigning for reform of the royal insult law.

MFP denies any wrongdoing.

The property dropped its calls for reform after the Constitutional Court ruled in January that the call amounted to an effort to overthrow the monarchy.

Its predecessor, the Future Forward Party, was also dissolved by a court ruling after performing strongly in the 2019 election.

What about Thaksin?

Thaksin, the telecommunications tycoon who dominated Thai politics being removed in a military coup in 2006, returned to Thailand last year after Srettha’s government took office.

On Tuesday, a Bangkok criminal court is likely to formally charge him with royal insult in connection with a media interview he gave in 2015.

The court will then decide whether to grant bail to Thaksin, who has said he is innocent. “This case has no merit at all,” he told reporters earlier this month.

Thailand’s lese-majeste law, one of the world’s toughest, carries a maximum jail sentence of up to 15 years for each perceived insult.

The 74-year-old returned to Thailand to a rock star’s reception last August after 15 years of self-imposed exile.

And the senators?

The Constitutional Court will also deliver a decision on the ongoing selection of a new 200-member Senate, after accepting a petition questioning whether parts of the process, taking place over three successive weeks, were lawful.

If the process is cancelled or delayed, it would temporarily extend the term of military-appointed lawmakers who play a key role in forming the government, including last year’s manoeuvre that blocked MFP.

The current upper house was hand-picked by the military following a 2014 coup that removed an elected Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin’s sister, who still lives in self-imposed exile.

The process to pick the next Senate began on June 9 with the third and final stage scheduled for June 23.

The case relates to an interview the billionaire politician gave to South Korean media while in self-imposed exile in 2015.

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who returned home last year after 15 years in exile, will go on trial next month on charges of insulting the monarchy.

Prayuth Pecharakun, a spokesman for Thailand’s attorney general, said 74-year-old Thaksin would be summoned to appear in court on June 18 to answer charges under Thailand’s lese-majeste law, one of the strictest in the world. He also faces charges of violating the Computer Crime Act.

Thaksin, a prominent telecommunications tycoon, was first elected prime minister in 2001, but removed five years later in a military coup amid mass protests from the urban middle class and disquiet over his policies among the pro-royalist, pro-military elite. His populist political movement continued to win elections even after Thaksin went into exile, but was brought down in coups or court rulings amid relentless political upheaval.

The latest allegations were made by the generals who seized power from Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2014 and relate to an interview he gave to South Korean media the following year.

“The attorney general has decided to indict Thaksin for insulting the monarchy,” Prayuth told reporters.

Thaksin returned to Thailand last August after the Pheu Thai party headed by his daughter took power as part of a coalition formed after establishment-aligned senators blocked the election-winning Move Forward Party, which campaigned on reforms to the military and the monarchy, from forming a government.

Protesters, activists, politicians and political parties have all fallen foul of Thailand’s royal defamation laws, which protect King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family and have been used more widely since 2020 when young people began protests demanding unprecedented reform to the monarchy. Each charge carries a potential 15-year prison sentence.

Thaksin’s lawyer, Winyat Chatmontree, said the billionaire would fight the charges.

“He is ready to prove his innocence in the justice system,” Winyat told reporters.

Critics say the law has been abused to stifle legitimate political debate.

More than 270 people have been charged with lese-majeste since the protests began, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

Thaksin’s return to Thailand, on the very day Pheu Thai’s Srettha Thavisin became prime minister in alliance with a group of pro-military parties, led many to conclude a deal had been done to cut his jail time on corruption-related charges.

The king later reduced Thaksin’s sentence from eight years to one, and he was freed on parole in February having spent most of his six months in detention in hospital.

Thaksin insists he has retired, but has made numerous public appearances since his release. He has repeatedly pledged his loyalty to the crown.

The Move Forward Party is also facing court action over its commitment to amend the lese-majeste law with the Constitutional Court due to decide whether to dissolve the party.