Why did Borwornsak decide to leave his master, Thaksin Shinawatra, whom he had served with dedication and loyalty for more than three years? As you might recall, in one episode while Thaksin was under heavy attack by the People's Alliance for Democracy, Borwornsak led a group of civil servants at Government House to give their blessing to the prime minister. Borwornsak and the others gave red roses to Thaksin in a symbolic gesture to show him he was not alone in his political battle against the street demonstrators.

In his capacity as secretary-general of the Cabinet, Borwornsak was responsible for drafting several controversial laws or decrees by the Thaksin administration. He served the administration well and gained its trust. He seemed to like the job very much right from the beginning because it gave him an insider role in the administration, which had cast its big, dark shadow over all the institutions in this country. Many now acknowledge that the Thaksin administration, before the dissolution of Parliament in February this year, was the strongest government since World War II.

In a way, the formation of the Thaksin regime represented an evolution of Thai politics in a direction that Borwornsak wanted. As one of the authors of the 1997 Constitution, he wanted to see a strong government and an end to Thai-style democracy, fraught with military coups and weak coalition-led governments.

The enormous political power wielded by the Thaksin administration was something that surprised even the Thai Rak Thai members. When Thaksin was forming Thai Rak Thai, he would have been happy enough if it managed to become a medium-sized political party. As we know, Thai Rak Thai turned out to be a big bang. Following its 2001 landslide victory, Thaksin's party quickly consolidated its power until it was able to bring most of the independent institutions, the military and the bureaucracy under its spell. Unfortunately for the country, Thai Rak Thai also proved to be more concerned about its own interests than those of the country.

Legal and constitutional experts like Borwornsak, Pongthep Thepkanjana, Wissanu Krea-ngam and Bhokin Bhalakula were recruited to strengthen the regime because they know the nuts and bolts of Thai law, regulations and the Constitution. Borwornsak and others thought the enormous political power enjoyed by Thai Rak Thai was phenomenal, something that should have happened 15 or 20 years from now. They all bathed in the political glory of their master.

The spirit of the 1997 Constitution lies in the check-and-balance system. With His Majesty the King as head of state, the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch function as the pillars of the country, each serving as checks against each other. And these three branches are subject to further checks by independent institutions such as the Constitution Court, the Election Commission and the Administrative Court.

So it is rather ironic that Borwornsak, one of the authors of the Constitution, turned a blind eye to the administration's attempt to railroad all the independent institutions. He wrote the Constitution and chose to ignore its spirit. If the political pressure and conflict had not been so unbearable, he would not have left his office as secretary-general of the Cabinet.

There were three cases that put Borwornsak in the spotlight and which eventually led to his resignation. The first case involved the Thaksin government's introduction of the executive decree to handle the unrest in the South. As Cabinet secretary-general, Borwornsak was the architect of this executive decree, and he defended it vehemently at a Thammasat University seminar vetting the decree.

There were widespread objections to the decree, as it was feared it might violate the Constitution. Moreover, there were fears that the administration might use the decree to deal with its political enemies in Bangkok.

Borwornsak went ahead with preparing the executive decree, which was forwarded to His Majesty the King for his signature. Several "phu yai" (highly respected people) of the Thai elite criticised Borwornsak for the executive decree, which gave undue power to the administration, because the country was not facing an emergency situation and existing laws were sufficient to deal with any unrest.

The second case involved two royal decrees prepared by Borwornsak in February this year at the height of the Shin Corp scandal. Thaksin decided to dissolve Parliament instead of coming out to address the Shin Corp deal in a straightforward manner. He wanted the election result to whitewash the deal. But before dissolving the House, he wanted to reshuffle the Cabinet so that key people were placed in strategic posts to oversee the April 2 snap poll.

Again, several phu yai were unhappy with Borwornsak's presenting two royal decrees concurrently for the King's signature. As it turned out, His Majesty only signed the royal decree to dissolve Parliament.

The third and latest case involved a royal decree declaring October 15 as the election date. Borwornsak was under pressure to introduce this royal decree despite calls for current members of the Election Commission (EC) to step down first. After the nullification of the April 2 election and negative comments by the three highest courts, the commissioners had lost the credibility to hold another election in a free and fair manner. Still, they managed to hastily convene and set a new election for October 15. The EC and the Thaksin government appeared to tango in perfect rhythm.

The top officials of the Supreme Court have repeatedly sent signals that the election commissioners should resign to pave the way for the nomination of new commissioners. Since the King entrusted the Supreme Court of Justice, the Constitution Court and the Supreme Administrative Court to find a way to break the political deadlock, the recommendations of their judges should be seen as the best way forward for the country at this critical juncture.

There have been unconfirmed reports that the government presented the royal decree declaring October 15 as the election date to the Privy Council, asking for the privy councillors' opinion. Nobody is in a position to know what was probably discussed in the Privy Council. But it must be obvious that insofar as the current election commissioners are still stubbornly around, the Privy Council would not pass on the royal decree - if it was in fact submitted to the council - to His Majesty for royal signature.

Such a snub may have been the last straw for Borwornsak. As if he knew how events would unfold in the near future, Borwornsak said after resigning: "Politicians should think less about themselves and think more about His Majesty the King, the country and the Thai people. Then things will improve."

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation