Deepening Chaos in Thailand
The Red shirts are ready for a showdown with the Thai troops. And the Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva is as defiant as ever, resisting the slightest trace of a negotiation with the protesters. Their demand for holding elections seems hanging in thin air in the light of the scenario. The military backing for Abhisit is well known. And the red-shirted protesters are the supporters of the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is in self imposed exile. The situation is developing into an unpredictable imbroglio.
The Red Shirts, formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, consist largely of supporters of ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed the 2006 military coup that ousted him after months of demonstrations. The anti-Thaksin protesters — led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, or "Yellow Shirts" — demanded he step down for alleged corruption and disrespecting the country's constitutional monarch, 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
In the meantime, there are signs of divisions within the state apparatus. The Thai army chief has already raised the alarm for holding the elections. Meanwhile, Thailand's Election Commission on Monday capped a lengthy investigation by recommending that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling Democrat Party be prosecuted for allegedly accepting illegal campaign donations. The move that could eventually lead to the party being dissolved and forced from office. Thailand's attorney general will have to decide whether to send the case to trial at Thailand's Constitutional Court, where party officials say they will contest the charges.
We can narrow down the state of affairs into the undemocratic fabric of the Thailand state. Any shuffle in the military establishment is provoking coup in this country. Only by maturing a grass root democracy Thailand can seek a way out from this crisis. One general election cannot win the situation for Thailand given the extent of unrest and the magnitude of deadlock between the warring sides. But it can be an interim stage for evolving a consensual solution acceptable to all the parties.
Gokul B. Alex
'clarity is rhythm'
