Although chief royal adviser General Prem Tinsulanonda and fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra appear to be worlds apart, the two are bound to collide with one another, causing shocks and reverberations. The Prem-Thaksin collision is fuelled by political polarisation and not any personal grudges between the two. The government has a pivotal role to end the polarisation and ensure normalcy.
Once the polarisation has dissipated, Prem and Thaksin are likely to diverge from their colliding paths and go separate ways.
But the problem is how to convince parties on either side to see the light, when they choose to believe what they want - instead of embracing the truth. This is the dilemma Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva faces.
Society expects Abhisit to project his leadership to bring about reconciliation. The pressure on this task multiplies; the longer the polarisation persists, the more harm will be done to the monarchy.
Thaksin and his army of red shirts may insist on loyalty to the King. But their relentless attacks on Prem, whose office in the Privy Council is intrinsic to the country's revered institution, have sown seed of doubt about the monarchy.
The proliferation of messages in cyberspace questioning and blaming the monarchy for what people perceive to be setbacks for democracy should be a cause for alarm.
If allowed to spread unchecked, the attacks, despite being barmy and false, can and will alter perceptions about the monarchy in the long run.
As president of the Privy Council, Prem is duty-bound to uphold the monarchy. Since his heyday Thaksin has attributed his predicament to the "power beyond the Constitution".
Even though Prem and the Privy Council have never had any involvement in the unfolding of political events, Thaksin and the red shirts blame the King's men for his downfall.
It is a moot point to argue what really happened when Thaksin and the red shirts convinced a vast number of people, particularly those in rural areas, into believing that Prem had a role in the 2006 coup.
Even to this day, Thaksin and the red shirts have effectively portrayed Prem and the Privy Council as villains against democracy. The false portrayal of Prem is an effective tool to rouse the masses.
Whenever the sentiment for street protests sinks into a lull, the red shirts rally their mob by faulting the King's men, while cheekily professing their undying loyalty.
Next week, rally organiser Weng Tojirakarn will lead a march at Khao Yai Thiang, Nakhon Ratchasima, to attack Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont for alleged forest encroachment. This is seen as a ploy to boost the red shirts' morale ahead of a planned rally to oust the government.
Only Thaksin, who insists on being a royalist, can answer for why he keeps encouraging the red shirts to pick on the King's men.
Regardless of Thaksin's wrath, Abhisit is obligated to try to stop, or at least cushion the adverse impacts from this bashing of the Privy Council.
The prime minister and his government might have limited options, or none at all, in reasoning with Thaksin, but fences can still be mended with the opposition Pheu Thai Party and the red shirts.
If Abhisit can sever or weaken the ties between Thaksin and his supporters, this will help overcome the polarisation. In the past year the government did almost nothing to reason with the opposition movement.
It is high time for Abhisit to rethink his strategy. A sincere commitment to negotiate an acceptable solution on how to proceed with the charter rewrite might be a good starting point to mend some fences.
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1 comment:
Amazing as always
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