"The Election Commission resolved unanimously not to sign a memorandum of understanding with the European Union on allowing monitors at the December general election, and declared the issue closed.
"We don't need another round of negotiations with the EU as we guarantee that we can organise a free and fair general election," said EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond
"We're not afraid of being monitored. We're glad to welcome the observation by representatives of all countries, including the EU, but the observation must be under Thai law."
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=121542
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Thais slam door on EU monitor agreement
Started by Dick, Sep 12 2007 09:54 AM
2 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 12 September 2007 - 10:48 AM
I'm not sure that the Thais realize what a bad impression they have created in the eyes of most foreigners, here or abroad, by their negative and unnecessarily harsh reaction to the EU's proposal for election monitors.
Initially, I thought that the Thais were giving it their usual nationalistic knee-jerk reaction to anything foreign. I thought it was the old "Thai way or no way" that's an almost genetic response to anything that's seen as "non-Thai." I'm not so sure now that there isn't more to it.
My sense is that there are many elements of the Thai power structure, in power and out, who do not want any organized cadre of foreign moinitors placed in a position where they could detect national patterns of vote buying - or worse.
The Thais may say that they have no objection "in principle" to the presence of foreign election monitors, but that seems to translate into something more like: they don't object to observation, as long as it remains casual and unorganized and thus doesn't pose a threat to expose possible national patterns of corruption - or the lack thereof.
For example, if political parties allied to Thaksin should win a majority of MP seats through large swatches of the North and Issan, making them the dominant party in the new parliament, what's to prevent the junta or its political friends from challenging the results in Thaksin-friendly areas, using the junta's hand-picked judges to disqualify winning candidates for alleged massive fraud or vote buying ?
Presumably, an organized group of EU monitors would be in a position to corroborate such charges of election fraud - or, more importantly, refute them. Thus, the presence of such foreign observers could seriously undermine any contingency plans some folks may have, to claim that the elections were flawed by fraud, even if they weren't - if the wrong people win.
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Initially, I thought that the Thais were giving it their usual nationalistic knee-jerk reaction to anything foreign. I thought it was the old "Thai way or no way" that's an almost genetic response to anything that's seen as "non-Thai." I'm not so sure now that there isn't more to it.
My sense is that there are many elements of the Thai power structure, in power and out, who do not want any organized cadre of foreign moinitors placed in a position where they could detect national patterns of vote buying - or worse.
The Thais may say that they have no objection "in principle" to the presence of foreign election monitors, but that seems to translate into something more like: they don't object to observation, as long as it remains casual and unorganized and thus doesn't pose a threat to expose possible national patterns of corruption - or the lack thereof.
For example, if political parties allied to Thaksin should win a majority of MP seats through large swatches of the North and Issan, making them the dominant party in the new parliament, what's to prevent the junta or its political friends from challenging the results in Thaksin-friendly areas, using the junta's hand-picked judges to disqualify winning candidates for alleged massive fraud or vote buying ?
Presumably, an organized group of EU monitors would be in a position to corroborate such charges of election fraud - or, more importantly, refute them. Thus, the presence of such foreign observers could seriously undermine any contingency plans some folks may have, to claim that the elections were flawed by fraud, even if they weren't - if the wrong people win.
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#3
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Posted 13 September 2007 - 11:26 AM
QUOTE
Presumably, an organized group of EU monitors would be in a position to corroborate such charges of election fraud - or, more importantly, refute them. Thus, the presence of such foreign observers could seriously undermine any contingency plans some folks may have, to claim that the elections were flawed by fraud, even if they weren't - if the wrong people win.
Do you honestly think that the guys running things would fabricate false allegations of fraud just to nullify the elections ?
BTW, if they stick to their plans to hold the elections on December 23, and voting is mandatory in this election, that means that many of the Issan guys who work in Pattaya's bars will have to go back home to Issan to vote, right in the middle of one of the busiest weeks of high season.
