Thai generals stir, challenge Chuan's government
Thai generals stir, challenge Chuan's government
By Tony Austin
BANGKOK (Reuter): Thailand's generals have stirred after months of political dormancy, defeating an attempt in parliament to limit their influence and undermining the authority of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.
Chuan's days as premier may now be numbered after his political foes succeeded in blocking a government-backed constitutional amendment aimed at curbing the influence of the Senate (Upper House), Thai newspapers said.
"The government has run into a political dead-end... The most logical option is to dissolve parliament and return the mandate to the people," the Sunday Post said in an editorial.
The Thai Rath and Matichon newspapers also said Chuan must step down and let the people decide, warning that pressure groups outside parliament might otherwise take to the streets with the risk of bloody confrontations.
"The chances of Chuan dissolving the Lower House and calling a snap election are very high. The only question is when he will do it," a political source told Reuters.
Until recently, the military establishment had kept a low profile in politics, its image tarnished by the May 1992 bloody suppression of a pro-democracy movement in the worst political violence for 16 years.
"This was the first time the generals had openly displayed their defiance. It was a clear signal that they do not want this government," the political source said.
Chuan's five-party coalition government came to power in September 1992, promising to inject more democratic guarantees into a constitution which had already been altered no less than 15 times since 1932 following military coups.
A key element in the pro-democracy campaign is an amendment to cut the number of appointed senators to 120 from 270, leaving the elected Lower House unchanged at 360 seats.
Packed with top brass and senior civil servants, the upper house is widely accepted to represent the political views of the Thai armed forces. Its role is mainly advisory, with power to delay but not block lower house legislation.
But last Thursday and last Friday, senators combined with the lower house opposition during a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate to thwart Chuan. First, they adopted a rival agenda for constitutional changes, then they blocked the proposed Senate reduction.
The Nation newspaper called it a "coup in broad daylight". Though the two votes were largely procedural, they were seen as the preliminary skirmishes in a new showdown between pro- democracy and pro-military political forces in Thailand.
Political sources said there was an uneasy truce, but added that the conflict would flare up again when the joint parliamentary session resumed later this month since the generals and their political backers were now openly against the prime minister.
If Chuan clung to power until early next month, the military could still make life uncomfortable for the government through extra-parliamentary pressure groups, a political source said.
Part of the generals' irritation stems from the close government scrutiny of military hardware acquisitions and a drawn-out investigation of alleged kickbacks to certain high- ranking officers from a controversial helicopter deal.
The five opposition parties, backed by the Senate, want to revert to a 1978 constitution which would actually increase the size of the Upper House and lower the threshold for entry. Pro- democracy groups brand it a "rogues' charter."
"The Senate-opposition conspiracy has all the trappings of the dark days... It was solidarity in uniform all the way," The Nation said in a comment on the two votes.
Chuan said a smaller Senate was in line with other parliamentary democracies where the Upper House was yielding power to the directly elected House of Representatives.
Criticized for ineffectiveness in office, with little progress to report on the problems of traffic congestion, water shortage and prostitution, Chuan suffered the further humiliation of seeing his appointed Defense Minister, General Vijit Sookmark, vote with the Senate against him.
The Confederation for Democracy, a pressure group behind the demonstrations that culminated in the military crackdown in May 1992, announced it would hold peaceful marches to back coalition efforts to reform the constitution.
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