No, but I've since discovered that the first appears in 'English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases', W.C. Hazlitt, 1907!
Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Thailand's popular Move Forward Party faces dissolution after losing bid to amend strict defamation laws
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-01/ ... /103414450
Thailand's most popular political party could face dissolution after the country's Constitutional Court ruled its signature policy illegal.
The Move Forward Party won the most votes and seats at last year's election on a progressive platform, the centre of which was a proposal to amend the country's strict royal defamation laws.
The laws, known as Section 112, are some of the strictest of their kind in the world and carry penalties of up to 15 years in jail for criticising or insulting Thailand's monarchy.
Move Forward's proposed amendments included reduced sentences and a requirement that complaints must be filed by the royal household.
As it stands, anyone can file a complaint of lese majeste against anyone else and police are obliged to investigate – a situation Move Forward argues allows the law to be used for political purposes.
The Constitutional Court ruled the party's campaign to promise to amend the lese majeste law violated the constitution and was tantamount to an attempt to overthrow the entire political system in Thailand.
The court said the plan to amend Section 112 showed "an intent to separate the monarchy from the Thai nation, which is significantly dangerous to the security of the state".
While the verdict carries no penalty, it is expected to open the door to legal challenges that could seek to dissolve the party and ban its leaders – something Thailand's progressive parties have faced before.
Already, former senator Ruangkrai Leekitwattana has declared he will file a complaint with the Election Commission to seek dissolution.
The member of the conservative Palang Pracharat Party filed similar petitions with the Election Commission last year but was previously rejected.
Mr Ruangkrai also filed the complaint with the Election Commission over former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat's ownership of shares in a media business, which was dismissed last week, allowing Mr Pita to be reinstated as a member of parliament.
Human Rights Watch has said that in a worst-case scenario, 44 Move Forward MPs who signed the proposal to amend Section 112, including Mr Pita, could face lifetime bans from politics.
Speaking at a press conference after the ruling, Mr Pita expressed disappointment.
"It's an opportunity lost, that we can use the parliament to find different views and an opportunity to find the consensus building for such an important and critical and fragile issue, that parliament would be the best place to do it, and we lost that opportunity today," he said.
When asked what his message was to the millions of Thai voters who supported the party and its proposed change to Section 112, his message was simple.
"We've tried our best and we have a very true intention of finding the proportionality of law between the protection of the monarchy and the proportionality of freedom of speech in modern Thailand, so we've tried our best."
The Constitutional Court in 2020 ordered the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, the predecessor of Move Forward – sparking widescale youth-led protests openly criticising the monarchy.
Many of the protest leaders and participants have since faced lese majeste charges.
Last month, a Thai court sentenced a man to 50 years in jail for comments deemed to be defamatory to the monarchy – the highest-ever sentence handed down under the lese majeste law.
Details of what prompted the harsh sentence for Mongkol Thirakot have not been published.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-01/ ... /103414450
Thailand's most popular political party could face dissolution after the country's Constitutional Court ruled its signature policy illegal.
The Move Forward Party won the most votes and seats at last year's election on a progressive platform, the centre of which was a proposal to amend the country's strict royal defamation laws.
The laws, known as Section 112, are some of the strictest of their kind in the world and carry penalties of up to 15 years in jail for criticising or insulting Thailand's monarchy.
Move Forward's proposed amendments included reduced sentences and a requirement that complaints must be filed by the royal household.
As it stands, anyone can file a complaint of lese majeste against anyone else and police are obliged to investigate – a situation Move Forward argues allows the law to be used for political purposes.
The Constitutional Court ruled the party's campaign to promise to amend the lese majeste law violated the constitution and was tantamount to an attempt to overthrow the entire political system in Thailand.
The court said the plan to amend Section 112 showed "an intent to separate the monarchy from the Thai nation, which is significantly dangerous to the security of the state".
While the verdict carries no penalty, it is expected to open the door to legal challenges that could seek to dissolve the party and ban its leaders – something Thailand's progressive parties have faced before.
Already, former senator Ruangkrai Leekitwattana has declared he will file a complaint with the Election Commission to seek dissolution.
The member of the conservative Palang Pracharat Party filed similar petitions with the Election Commission last year but was previously rejected.
Mr Ruangkrai also filed the complaint with the Election Commission over former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat's ownership of shares in a media business, which was dismissed last week, allowing Mr Pita to be reinstated as a member of parliament.
Human Rights Watch has said that in a worst-case scenario, 44 Move Forward MPs who signed the proposal to amend Section 112, including Mr Pita, could face lifetime bans from politics.
Speaking at a press conference after the ruling, Mr Pita expressed disappointment.
"It's an opportunity lost, that we can use the parliament to find different views and an opportunity to find the consensus building for such an important and critical and fragile issue, that parliament would be the best place to do it, and we lost that opportunity today," he said.
When asked what his message was to the millions of Thai voters who supported the party and its proposed change to Section 112, his message was simple.
"We've tried our best and we have a very true intention of finding the proportionality of law between the protection of the monarchy and the proportionality of freedom of speech in modern Thailand, so we've tried our best."
The Constitutional Court in 2020 ordered the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, the predecessor of Move Forward – sparking widescale youth-led protests openly criticising the monarchy.
Many of the protest leaders and participants have since faced lese majeste charges.
Last month, a Thai court sentenced a man to 50 years in jail for comments deemed to be defamatory to the monarchy – the highest-ever sentence handed down under the lese majeste law.
Details of what prompted the harsh sentence for Mongkol Thirakot have not been published.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Soft power innit? Thailand must definitely be in the running for UN Human Rights seat now.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Interesting little barb in the Bkk Post this morning, in an article about Burma.
What's happening to Myanmar's coup and autocratic rule is a cautionary tale that subverted democracies can be regained and reinvented. Myanmar is a case not of democratic rollback but of autocratic reversal. The entrenched and pro-autocracy elites in Myanmar's eastern next-door neighbour should take notice.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opi ... ctatorship
What's happening to Myanmar's coup and autocratic rule is a cautionary tale that subverted democracies can be regained and reinvented. Myanmar is a case not of democratic rollback but of autocratic reversal. The entrenched and pro-autocracy elites in Myanmar's eastern next-door neighbour should take notice.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opi ... ctatorship
Talk is cheap
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Quite! The Thai military's buddies in Myanmar aren't doing so well are they?caller wrote:Interesting little barb in the Bkk Post this morning, in an article about Burma.
What's happening to Myanmar's coup and autocratic rule is a cautionary tale that subverted democracies can be regained and reinvented. Myanmar is a case not of democratic rollback but of autocratic reversal. The entrenched and pro-autocracy elites in Myanmar's eastern next-door neighbour should take notice.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opi ... ctatorship
Silencing the voices of those who voted for MFP by banning the party might not be a really smart move.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Thai court orders election-winning party to dissolve in major blow to kingdom’s popular progressive movement
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/07/asia/tha ... index.html
A Thai court on Wednesday ordered the kingdom’s most popular political party to be disbanded, a verdict that delivers a major blow to a vibrant progressive movement and one that threatens to bring more political turbulence to Thailand.
The Move Forward Party won a stunning electoral victory in 2023, winning the most parliamentary seats on an anti-establishment reform agenda that drew huge support across the country, particularly among young people disaffected by years of military-backed rule.
The Constitutional Court in Bangkok ruled Wednesday that Move Forward should be dissolved, following a request from Thailand’s Election Commission, over the party’s campaign to amend lese majeste, the country’s notoriously strict royal insult law.
In its unanimous ruling, the court accused Move Forward of “undermining the monarchy” and so “the constitutional court has to inevitably disband the party.”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/07/asia/tha ... index.html
A Thai court on Wednesday ordered the kingdom’s most popular political party to be disbanded, a verdict that delivers a major blow to a vibrant progressive movement and one that threatens to bring more political turbulence to Thailand.
The Move Forward Party won a stunning electoral victory in 2023, winning the most parliamentary seats on an anti-establishment reform agenda that drew huge support across the country, particularly among young people disaffected by years of military-backed rule.
The Constitutional Court in Bangkok ruled Wednesday that Move Forward should be dissolved, following a request from Thailand’s Election Commission, over the party’s campaign to amend lese majeste, the country’s notoriously strict royal insult law.
In its unanimous ruling, the court accused Move Forward of “undermining the monarchy” and so “the constitutional court has to inevitably disband the party.”
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Sad, but no surprise. Since they’ve made reform impossible one has to wonder what comes next.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Yes, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion. It has to be remembered that the big majority in power are closely aligned with the thugs running Myanmar.
It is posted internationally already, but that will not bother them.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-07/ ... /104195556
Thai court dissolves progressive Move Forward Party
The court also ordered the party's 11 current and former executives be banned from political office for 10 years, including former leader Pita Limjaroenrat.
It is posted internationally already, but that will not bother them.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-07/ ... /104195556
Thai court dissolves progressive Move Forward Party
The court also ordered the party's 11 current and former executives be banned from political office for 10 years, including former leader Pita Limjaroenrat.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
)Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
An interesting article from from Pravit, from Khaosod English about the dissolution. He is always worth reading. I am sure a more considered, fuller article will appear in due course.
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/ ... ard-party/
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/ ... ard-party/
Talk is cheap
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
He makes a great point, almost saying that if an institution needs to be protected by draconian laws, then perhaps the institution is not worth protecting.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Rama IX was greatly loved and respected by the Thai people and indeed across the world.
It's worth reading his birthday speeches of 2003 and 2005. Both of these speeches are easily found. I wonder how he'd react to current events.
It's worth reading his birthday speeches of 2003 and 2005. Both of these speeches are easily found. I wonder how he'd react to current events.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Too bad the Monarchists paid no attention to the wishes of the Monarch.
Re: Thailand general election fundamentally flawed: Human Rights Watch
Statements from the EU and US on the recent developments in Thailand ... China has been very quiet ...
Spokesperson of the European Union issued a statement on the dissolution of Thailand's main opposition party on August 7, 2024.
“The decision by the Constitutional Court of Thailand to dissolve another major political party, the Move Forward Party, is a setback for political pluralism in Thailand. The Move Forward Party was the leading party in the general elections in May 2023 with over 14 million votes (out of 39 million).
No democratic system can function without a plurality of parties and candidates. Any limitation on the exercise of free association and expression, in particular through the activities and formation of political parties, must be consistent with relevant provisions and principles of international instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It is important that the authorities ensure that all legitimately elected Members of Parliament are able to continue fulfilling their parliamentary mandates, irrespective of the party from which they were elected.
The European Union stands ready to broaden its engagement with Thailand under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed on 14 December 2022, including on issues of democratic pluralism, fundamental freedoms, and human rights.”
Source: Khaosod EnglishMatthew Miller, Spokesperson issued a statement on the dissolution of Move Forward Party in Thailand on August 7, 2024
The United States is deeply concerned by Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruling today ordering the dissolution of the Move Forward Party and the banning of 11 of its leaders from politics.
"This decision disenfranchises the more than 14 million Thais who voted for the Move Forward Party in the May 2023 election and raises questions about their representation within Thailand’s electoral system. The Constitutional Court’s decision also jeopardizes Thailand’s democratic progress and runs counter to the aspirations of the Thai people for a strong, democratic future.
Inclusive political participation strengthens social cohesion and is a critical component of resilient national institutions. The United States does not take a position in support of any political party, but as a close ally and friend with deep and enduring ties, we urge Thailand to take actions to ensure fully inclusive political participation, and to protect democracy and the freedoms of association and expression."
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson