Published on June 24, 2005

With the removal of Snoh Thienthong from Thai Rak Thai’s executive board on Tuesday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has opened a new front in the power struggle within the ruling party.

By “going separate ways” with Snoh, the premier is showing that he is not satisfied with the political veteran staying in his corner – he wants Snoh to put his hands up and surrender.

Snoh is now in a do-or-die situation and has to choose his next move well.

If he comes out of his corner and goes all out against Thaksin, it could cost him and more than 15 MPs of his Wang Nam Yen faction their place in Thai Rak Thai. But democracy activists will praise him for standing up to Thaksin’s “one-man rule”.

However, if Snoh makes no response to what he calls his “humiliation” by Thaksin, he and his faction might safely stay in the ruling party. But the pro-democracy lobby will brand him a clown who tried desperately to reassert his value but failed to back his words with action.

Three upcoming parliamentary sessions will test whether Snoh intends to challenge Thaksin for real: a censure debate on Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, a House debate to accept the fiscal 2006 Budget Bill, and the Constitution amendment concerning the selection of the National Counter Corruption Commission.

Snoh’s faction is standing firm, saying it will withhold support for Suriya if the opposition’s evidence proves that Suriya failed to tackle the alleged corruption in the purchase of bomb-detection machines for the Suvanarbhumi Airport.

Thaksin, however, has left no room for any of TRT House members to challenge his authority. The prime minister sent a message to all 377 Thai Rak Thai MPs on Tuesday that they should throw their support behind Suriya. He said the debate was a test of their loyalty, even though it only begins on Monday.

As for debates on the budget and the charter amendment, Thai Rak Thai’s majority in the house makes the result a foregone conclusion.

The Budget Bill, which allows Bt300 billion to be spent at the prime minister’s discretion without prior parliamentary scrutiny, will be passed to the approval stage in the next parliamentary session.

Likewise, the government’s draft of the Constitution amendment, which keeps politicians on the NCCC selection panel, will be approved.

What is more important is that all of the ruling party’s MPs have to vote in support of the government’s moves.

Snoh and his faction members are no exception. Voting against the ruling party’s initiatives or even abstaining from voting would be considered a deliberate betrayal and could lead to expulsion from the party, which would invalidate their House membership.

Although MPs could ask the Constitution Court to rule against the party’s resolution and claim it treated them unfairly as they acted as representatives on behalf of the public, there’s no guarantee that the court would support their claim and allow them to join other parties.

If Snoh considers the situation is too risky and ends his rebellion to keep his faction alive in national politics, he will hardly justify the “farce” of recent months that he has played a leading

role in.

But if he stands firm and keeps fighting, no matter what the result, he would be set to end his long political career in honour, praised by all democracy advocates.

With the censure debate coming up next week, it won’t be long before Snoh’s true colours show.

Weerayut Chokchaimadon

The Nation

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