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Hostile senators and opposition members will have their place in the sun, grilling ministers suspected of having committed irregularities in office. This will happen just four months after the government took the reins of power.

Samak moaned during his TV show on Sunday that he had not been given enough time to run the country. "It's just four months and now they are after me."

With extreme prejudice or otherwise, the administration deserves this harsh test after failing to deliver on promises while killing time without approving a single bill.

Of course, an ineffectual administration, if also tainted by charges of misdeeds, deserves not a day longer in office. During the four months, the achievements of key Cabinet members have been abrupt transfers of senior officials regarded as obstacles, preventing them from grabbing plum deals or undue enrichment. Several good men have been sidelined to obscure positions, replaced by senior officials with controversial track records. Ex-civil servants, sacked for corruption and criminal charges, have been chosen to take key jobs to fulfil dirty assignments.

The House grilling will prove whether Samak is a dispensable and disposable leader of the Cabinet and the People Power Party for his refusal to take orders from party patrons and bigwigs. His TV show is clear testimony that the old leopard has not changed his spots; he is still full of spice in his rebuttals of adversaries.

Samak is regarded as a headstrong politician, abrasive and combative in his rational arguments and otherwise. Though in his twilight years, his ferocity shows no signs of receding. He loves the verbal sparring with critics, the quick retorts and sarcasm.  But the administration will emerge from the no-confidence debate bruised and wounded. With a strong majority in the House, it expects no problems, unless a huge bloc of MPs is given instructions to jettison the leader.

It is ironic, but true, that Samak is no longer wanted even by most party MPs because key patrons want somebody else to replace him - someone who takes orders and won't ask questions if they are up to no good with multibillion-baht infrastructure projects.  It is widely perceived that Thaksin Shinawatra wants trusted hands to take the reins of the government, particularly in the move to block the ongoing legal investigations against him. That includes the change to the Constitution, with versions favourable to those currently banned from politics.  

With the no-confidence debate or not, politics has reached a stalemate, with no plausible solution acceptable to all conflicting parties. The People's Alliance for Democracy, in their month-long street protest, continues to lay siege to Government House. This has become an acute embarrassment to Samak, who is unable to stop the rallies. The large number of people joining the protest serves as a warning that the administration's days are numbered. Even if it manages to survive the no-confidence debate, it can never regain public trust and credibility for the damage already done.

The opposition Democrat Party intends to inflict further wounds on Samak, seeking revenge for past conflicts. There is no love lost between them, though Samak had once been a key party member. Common animosity runs too deep to dream of a compromise.

The censure debate will not change politics as long as the old hands still have influence and big money still buys loyalty and causes treachery. That's why camp-switching is common practice, due to the unfathomable degree of shamelessness among the players.

The loudest claim from politicians is that they are elected representatives - and they assume that the ballots serve as a carte blanche for them to do anything at will, never mind the criticism that they betray the trust of the voters. By the same token, the censure debate cannot remove Samak and his team without some treachery within the coalition. Even so, there is no immediate solution because horse-trading will enable the PPP to strike a new deal for a better sharing of spoils.

The street protest, with allegations of misdeeds played out for public consumption, will need no less than a nationwide uprising or massive labour strike to bring all government mechanisms to a standstill. There could be a heavy price for the nation to pay.

The main obstacle, among other factors, is shamelessness and the lack of conscience among politicians. When faced with blatant proof of their misdeeds they cling to their seats and disregard the uproar and calls for them to leave office.

We may call ourselves members of a fairly developed society with decent cultural niceties. This barely exists in the realm of politics, which is reserved for many of those who have the audacity to enrich themselves and abuse their power and the public's trust.  

Of course, shamelessness extends to the use of money to buy votes. As long as voters succumb to the smell of money, even just a few hundred baht, politicians with soiled souls will be tempted to test their luck in return for gains many times over the investment.

The House debates are just part of the political ritual and the whole vicious circle. Politicians refuse to depart because the circle is a short-cut to immense wealth at relatively minimal risk.

It is truly gutter politics.