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Published on September 4, 2007

Two reluctant allies of the coup-makers, the Council for National Security, have joined the anti-coup movement by expressing concern that Thailand may not have a truly facilitating environment for democracy leading up to the next general election - the proclaimed key landmark in the return to civilian rule. The Democrat Party and the Campaign for Popular Democracy are calling on the CNS to lift martial law within the next month to bring about a more democratic atmosphere before election day. The ball is in the interim leaders' court, and again, at stake is the proclaimed noble objective of the September 19 coup.

Somehow, the CNS and the interim government have brought Thailand to within four months of a return to democracy. But things are not going to get any easier in the home stretch, not least because the interim rulers have fallen way short of expectation on many matters and because the country remains deeply divided. The government has also balked at a European Union election observation idea, and rumours about a "military party" to help the CNS hold on to power refuse to go away. All these have added to scepticism both here and abroad about whether democracy will truly return to Thailand.

Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, and Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva want martial law in the northern and north-eastern provinces to be lifted after a royal decree is enacted to set the election date, expected to be December 23. Thirty-five provinces remain under martial law, many in the North and Northeast, which are known to be strong political bases of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the former Thai Rak Thai Party. The three southernmost provinces are also under martial law, which was imposed there for different reasons.

CNS spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnoed said the junta and the government would have to discuss the demand before making any decision, but it remains to be seen whether the junta chiefs see the significance of their reluctant allies joining the martial law call.

Last month, the Thai Rak Thai Group, academics and some foreign countries including the United States urged the government to lift martial law before the election, a move that met with a discouraging response from CNS chairman General Sonthi Boonyaratglin. He indicated on Saturday that the northern and north-eastern provinces would continue to be under special control.

Sonthi's statement and the logic he used to defend the continuity of martial law will compound public doubt. He claimed people in Chiang Mai had told him their lives were not affected. "I asked local people and government officials if martial law had affected politics," he said. "They replied that good people are not affected. They said martial law helps protect good people."

In the deep South, that may be the case. But in the North and Northeast, martial law only means restricted political freedom, something that will hamper the transition back to democracy, which needs to be transparent, clean and fair. The law imposes restrictions on public gatherings, among other curbs on basic civil rights. The perception of restricted freedom when political activities are supposed to be in full swing is enough to undermine the legitimacy and credibility of the next election in the eyes of the foreign community.

But what foreigners think is not as important as how martial law can really affect Thai people and unfairly influence the election outcome. Of course, the law can protect "good people", but bad people can also abuse it for political gain. Standing to be victimised are those associated with the former Thai Rak Thai Party, even if they were not involved in the corruption in the last regime and all they are planning to do now is vie for political power through constitutional means.

Martial law will keep alive the sense of political divide, of unfair treatment. And even if the interim rulers want to maintain it out of a respectable desire to keep "peace" until election day, martial law will provide the opposite effect. Fears of the previous regime have forced the interim leadership into making many mistakes. Some of them have been corrected, but others have left scars. But most of their mistakes will be forgotten, as long as Thais are given a truly free hand once again to decide the country's future. If not, every mistake will remain unforgivable.