A reawakening to the same old bad dream

Today's red-shirt rally to "commemorate" Constitution Day, on the surface and taken in isolation looks and sounds legitimate enough. Its leaders promise a non-event event. But just like the bad flick of the Thai engineer's trial in Cambodia, the singing of a birthday wish to His Majesty after a full day of mud-slinging is an insult to and a betrayal of the essence and spirit of His Majesty's call for unity. Spare us the hypocrisy.

As the highest law of the land, the constitution matters. But really, does this rally have anything to do with the constitution, and not with the Supreme Court's ruling on Thaksin's Bt76 billion asset seizure? The Court will close the prosecuting witness arguments by the end of this week, and has 30 days to deliver the verdict.

Time is not on the side of either of the conflicting parties, or the country. Regardless of the court ruling, the nation will be pushed into turmoil, perhaps to an extent unimaginable to us all. The political climate is so flammable that a spark of any type could set off explosive dominoes. Vicious lies have been propagated by various parties to so many vulnerable and gullible people, and public opinion is polarised to the extent that it may be impossible to bridge without a calamity at the national level.

Over a period of 77 years since the 1932 coup that changed Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, Thailand has had 62 governments, 18 constitutions, and ten successful coups from 17 attempts. The descriptions of our "democracy" range from "nominal" to "experimental" to " functioning". Now, nobody knows what to call us anymore. Since 2006, we've had four governments and none has had a firm grip. The constitution that has been made the focal point of dissident rallies, in fact, has lost its status as the supreme law of the land, and become marginalised. When the prime minister cannot travel to certain areas of the country, unilaterally declared "red zones", something is very wrong with the standing of the rules of law that is supposed to keep order and sustain our fragile democracy.

The 1997 Constitution was hailed as the "People's constitution" because it was the first to be drafted by a popularly elected Drafting Assembly. It stipulated for the first time that both the House of Representatives and Senate were to be directly elected. It legally encouraged independent NGOs and human rights groups to provide a check-and-balance mechanism. It put in numerous measures that were to increase the stability of elected governments. In order to stymie election fraud and vote buying, it laid down the one-man-one-vote system that was supposed to make the cost of money politics so exorbitant that it would gradually disappear. It was intended to strengthen the country's party system so that it could improve our political stability.

The 1997 Constitution also created the controversial Constitutional Court of Thailand as an independent entity with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, to draft legislation, and appoint and remove public officials and political parties. The court was established as another corrective measure to prevent groups in power from exploiting the charter for their own gain.

Unfortunately, by 2006, anti-democratic actions, as well as the undermining of, and interference in, independent bodies and press freedom by the government at the time, were well documented. Election fraud became more systemic. Wholesale corruption was the way the government did business.

The 2007 Charter was drafted by an assembly appointed by the coup leaders. It replaced the single constituency system with the old multi-seat constituency structure. This was intended to weaken political parties to avoid another monopolised, elected democracy. More importantly, it was designed to put in measures to "catch the thieves" in high office. The House of Representatives is directly elected, but the Senate is half elected and half selected by a group of individuals, supposedly to counter corrupt elected officials. The Constitutional Court is no longer an independent entity but a part of the judicial system. Articles 257 and 259 prohibit politicians from interfering in the work of bureaucrats.

Alas, what has transpired since the promulgation of the 2007 Constitution has little resemblance to the spirit of the Charter. Interference by politicians and corruption are epidemic now. Accusations of judicial double standards are, rightly or wrongly, widespread. Worst of all, people do not feel a duty to respect and uphold the rule of law, which is trampled over by some in a power play for revenge. Some rules remain synonymous with the rules of special interests.

Once again, Thailand proves that no law can be made completely airtight or sufficient to prevent people from committing malfeasant acts or finding loopholes for personal gain. A constitution is the framework by which a country is governed; it cannot cover all human behaviour. The UK has no written constitution, and the US constitution, with all its amendments, has only 15 pages. Ours are always long; the current one is 185 pages, yet it cannot do the job. The 18 constitutions we've had to date are proof that it is not words that make democracy, it is people who are honest, willing and principled enough to make personal sacrifice for the greater good of the country. A constitution is a means towards democracy, not a tool to blight it. As such, it cannot be used as a bargaining chip, as it has been by today's rally leaders, for any political objectives other than democracy itself.

So, as speaker after speaker at today's rally heatedly states the case against the 2007 Constitution, imperfect as it may be, remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin (American statesman, scientist, philosopher, inventor; 1706-1790): "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."