Democrats and the Coalition Game Tuesday, December 29, 2009 12:00 AM         While the New Year is fast approaching, resolve to many political conflicts are far from such progress. One such issue is amending the Constitution, which has no clear indication as to when such ambitions will ever be fulfilled. On Christmas day, the Democrats' coalition partners were having their own little Christmas party, including big players like Chart Thai Pattana shadow leader Banharn Silpa-archa and Bhum Jai Thai shadow leader Newin Chidchob. The result of that party was a message through Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban to PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, that the coalition members want 2 of the 6 proposed charter amendments to go ahead without a public referendum. PM Abhisit has already approved one of them, and that is to amend Article 190, which would require the approval of Parliament to sign any international agreements. The second request was to amend the electoral system from a multi-seat per constituency system to single-seat constituencies, which would make the game easier for smaller and medium parties like the coalition parties. Suthep knows too well that his own party is on a completely different wagon. Single-seat constituencies are not favored by the Democrat MPs whatsoever. So 2 days after the coalition's Christmas party, the Democrat leaders had their own after party and tossed the issue onto the Parliament's lap. The compromise is that the Democrats won't declare a clear stance. The party will leave the decision to the MPs in their party to vote freely on the matter. Other coalition parties are not happy, which is understandable. Given then that the political game continues to intensify with the pressures of the opposition and its associated red-shirt protestors, it's only reasonable the coalition parties are demanding a more favorable election process. The Democrats, however, could care less if Parliament is dissolved and another election is held, as they themselves are a large enough party to survive the current multi-seat-constituency election system. Another reason the Democrats have been reluctant to give in to the demands of its coalition partners is because they don't want their partners to jump the wagon with the opposition party, to call for a General Election. As long as the rules are not favoring the partners, the partners won't want the game to start. However, the Democrats realize that there are risks to being stubborn about the charter amendment. One is that the coalition partners may shift their support to back the opposition Peua Thai Party, as Newin has threatened. This is doesn't bother the Democrats much, because a simple solution is, ironically, to dissolve the House immediately and call for a general election under the same old rules, which would do no good for the wagon-hoppers. The other risk is that Parliament may decide in favor of the changes, but this is even more unlikely. The free-vote declaration by the Democrats is insignificant because the opposition has already declared that they would reject any changes to the current Constitution as they prefer the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution. Therefore, the opposition's no-votes along with a few Democrat rejections, the Parliament risk is out the window. One thing that rocks the reputation of the Democrats is the sheer fact that this is an obvious attempt to prolong their stay in office. It also makes people suspicious of the unanswered questions surrounding the 258-million-baht donation which failed to meet the requirements of the Election Commission . The Democrat party would be dissolved if found guilty of receiving the donation from TPI Polene. However, the Democrats seem to be more than certain that the verdict will be in their favor, which could either mean they are truly innocent or arrangements have been made. The beauty of it all is, the game never stops. The coalition partners are going to be looking for any way to annoy the Democrats on a daily basis. One thing is for sure: this has been a perfect hook for the story. Season 2010 of this drama will launch in just a couple of days. So stay tuned. from Post Today; Analysis pg.3 Tuesday December 29th, 2009 edition by Political News Team, Post Today Newspaper rewritten by Patcharapol Jitramontree patcharapol@tannetwork.tv From http://tannetwork.tv/toc/ViewData.aspx?DataID=1022991 Thursday, September 09, 2010 7:18 PM http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/