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The shame game

Manager and Thai Post, which have been strongly critical of the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, yesterday coincidentally chose similar wordings in their headlines.



Thai Post's headline was "Shameless" and featured a big picture of Samak with a quote from him: "The problem is clearly caused by the Constitution. Say, Article 237 - if there were no second paragraph, then there would be no problem concerning Article 190. If there were no second paragraph, there would be no ruling."

Now, we want our English-speaking readers to get a feeling of how certain Thai press reports spice up political sentiments. Here's the translation of the first few paragraphs of the same story by Thai Post.

"No House dissolution. No resignation. The bankrupt government still stubbornly stays in power. They can't spell the word 'spirit'. Samak blames it on the Constitution, saying if there were no Article 237, then the People Power Party might be able to survive; if there were no Article 190, then there would be no ruling by the Constitution Court."

Now let's see what Manager said in its headline: "Shameless Samak blames it on the Constitution. More details can be read in the paper."

Matichon's lead headline read: "The Constitution rules: Chaiya [Sasomsap, the public health minister] falls off the chair. But Samak will not dissolve the House."

Nonetheless, Khao Sod columnist Wong Tawan writes on the second page of the paper that political tensions have eased. Wong said a political guru once said that the current political crisis, driven by polarisation, would be resolved by the judicial system.

This is because the court's ruling is respected by all and is deemed final. Most importantly, the judicial process has been executed according to facts, witnesses and evidence. The court's rulings are not based on preference.

Therefore, no party can refuse to accept the court's ruling. Doing so would cause people to take to the street.

Prior to this, the court has made quite a few important decisions, from the Bt2-million 'Pastry-gate' ruling to the school's petition to urge the People's Alliance for Democracy to free up the road during rush hour. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that former House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat had committed electoral fraud.

The courts' verdicts on these issues found solutions to these conflicts which otherwise might have lingered and furthered societal divisions.

Matichon's editorial calls for the government to show its spirit. The Constitution Court ruled that the joint communiqué to support Preah Vihear was unconstitutional because it did not receive parliamentary approval. Thus, there are calls for Cabinet members to resign to demonstrate their political spirit.

Matichon outlined the mistakes brought on by the Thai Cabinet's carelessness and deceit. It said: "Many Thais are paranoid by the management of the Samak government.

"Eventually, the Cabinet cannot escape inspection. More importantly, a person's conscience should transcend power. That is when a mistake is committed and caused damage to the country, they should feel remorse," said Matichon.

The paper added that it would be futile to call for political etiquette from the Samak government.

"Over the past five months, we have heard only excuses and innuendo from the prime minister. Still, we have to take our falls and wait to see how long the person with no political etiquette will stay in power."


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