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Published on December 9, 2007

Suwit's campaign for the December 23 general election is therefore similar to those of the Matchima Thipataya and Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana parties, as both of these parties developed out of former factions within Thai Rak Thai and also hope to cash in on this "compromise" stance.

All three parties include several prominent ex-members of the Thai Rak Thai Party, such as Surakiart Sathirathai, the former deputy premier and foreign minister under Thaksin Shinawatra, former agriculture minister Somsak Thepsuthin, and Somkid Jatusripitak, the former economic chief. The Thai Rak Thai party is, however, more directly survived by the People Power Party led by Samak Sundaravej.

Suwit, a veteran politician, asserted that the ongoing political conflict needs to be resolved with "fairness" and further democratic reforms. With a strong base in the Northeast, he noted that nearly half of the voters remain undecided because political campaigns have been largely dominated by the pro- and- anti-Thaksin camps, as led by the former opposition Democrat Party and the People Power Party, respectively.

Despite His Majesty the King's repeated calls for national reconciliation in his 80th-birthday speeches broadcast nationwide this week, the confrontation has yet to recede, and polls are just two weeks away.

According to Suwit, many voters are still talking about whether they should vote for or against Thaksin, even though the former premier is currently among the 111 former Thai Rak Thai executives banned from politics by the Constitution Tribunal for a period of five years.

To support the ousted premier, an anonymous website, Hi-Thaksin.net, which has been shut down, has suggested that votes should be cast for the People Power Party so that Samak can become the next premier and help Thaksin return to Thailand.

According to Suwit, many people are also still talking about whether the ex-premier was right or wrong and whether the allegations against him and his family as laid down by authorities following the September 19, 2006 coup were valid or not. In other words, they're still pondering the pros and cons of their upcoming political decision.

Hence, Suwit is pushing hard for Puea Pandin to act as an intermediary for those who want to see an end to the conflict. In his opinion, all cases against Thaksin should be left to the court to decide when the Assets Examination Committee (AEC), which was set up following the coup, completes its tenure.

So far, only the case in which Thaksin is alleged to have abused his power while in office by illegally endorsing his wife's purchase of a multibillion baht state-owned prime plot of land is in the courts, as other cases are still with the AEC.

Besides employing "fairness" to help fix the problem, Suwit suggested that the next Parliament would have to move quickly to amend the 2007 Constitution to ensure that Thailand is really back on a democratic path, as the new charter was drafted following the coup and supervised by people appointed by the coup leaders, even though it passed a national referendum.

Charter amendments should focus on increasing the accountability of those who hold political office and strengthening checks and balances as well as independent bodies.

Suwit said the economy would face more problems unless the political situation improved following the polls, as Thailand was no longer attractive to international investors because of the prolonged conflict. Most domestic investors, meanwhile, have also put their expansion and investment plans on hold as they want to see who will take power before making a commitment.

After listening to the soothing words of Suwit, I was quite impressed but later on I found that the Hi-Thaksin.net website, believed to be a proxy of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been in exile in London since September 2006, isn't really on good terms with the Puea Pandin Party or its leader, so I just wondered how Suwit could really help fix the "Thaksin" problem in his proposed role as an intermediary.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com