#Thailand: Obama urged to use summit to press Thai junta on elections pledge

Fears are growing that disagreements over the latest draft constitution in Thailand may delay elections until 2018 or indefinitely. The warning comes ahead of the US-ASEAN summit on Monday and Tuesday where the Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to hold discussions with President Obama. The summit follows the official launch of the Asean Economic Community in late 2015.

Obama has been urged to use the high level meeting of SouthEast Asian leaders in California to press Prayuth to honour his pledge to hold democratic elections by 2017. Rights activists say the summit is also an opportunity for Obama to directly challenge the Thais junta on other issues such as its adherence to human rights.

The summit has been partly overshadowed by concerns of a possible further delay to elections in Thailand, which have already been postponed from 2015 and 2016. A referendum is due to be held on the new draft constitution this June or July but it is argued that the junta that has run the country since a military coup in May 2014 may use discord over the new draft to further delay elections. This is also uncertainty over what happens if the charter is rejected.

Charles Tannock, a senior centre right MEP, said, "This could all be part of deliberate delaying tactics by the junta. This is why President Obama should use this week's US-ASEAN summit to pressure the junta in Thailand to return to free and fair democratic elections as soon as possible."

Fraser Cameron, director of the Brussels-based EU/Asia Centre, told this website, "Engineering a row over the new constitution could be part of a plot by the junta."

He added:  “Obama will face criticism for inviting some non-democratic leaders such Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand, to the ASEAN summit. The army needs to set a date for new elections - the sooner the better - and stick to it."

His comments come after it emerged at the weekend that Thai embassies and consulates all over the world have been instructed to tell foreign media and people in general that a general election will definitely be held next year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the instruction to all Thai missions, Sek Wannamethee, director general of the Department of Information and ministry spokesman admitted.

When Prayuth organized the 2014 coup, he repeatedly promised elections in 2015 and 2016 but those promises have fallen by the wayside. Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the Faculty of Political Science at Ubon Ratchathani University, said: “It is more than likely that the military junta will remain essentially in power, even if we have elections in 2017, albeit with a new prime minister."

Observers say that Prayuth’s push for a new constitution points up the balancing act the Obama administration has faced dealing with the new government. Bangkok has long been a key US ally in the region, but the government’s anti-democratic tendencies and persistent courting by China have put heavy strains on the bilateral relationship.

As Prayuth prepares to meet with Obama at the summit, Thailand’s coup-installed government has come under fresh attack over the new draft constitution that opposition parties and human rights groups fear will extend the junta's domination backed by a new legislature stacked with pro-junta appointees.

Critics say the draft constitution will cement the power of Prayuth, the former general who shows no signs of preparing to step aside. The new draft was unveiled last month but was immediately condemned by rights groups as undemocratic and a "violation" of international standards. Under the new constitution, an unelected “outsider” could become prime minister, endorsed by parliament, if a “crisis” arises. Critics fear a pro-junta outsider will be boosted to become premier — perhaps Prayuth himself, though he denies wanting to stay on.

Parliament would have two houses, but its Senate will be entirely composed of unelected appointees by the junta. A detailed analysis of Thailand's new constitution by a group of Bangkok-based lawyers makes several criticisms, saying the draft aims to ban the Shinawatra family for eternity using politically-motivated charges, thereby eliminating any serious political opposition.

Other parts of the draft are similarly criticized. The legal analysis, which has been seen by this website, said some of the proposals "infringe" democratic principles which "emphasise the people’s right to vote for their representatives in the Parliament."

Willy Fautre, director of the Brussels based Human Rights Without Frontiers NGO, has called for targeted sanctions against the junta, saying: "Clear, targeted, measurable and flexible EU sanctions against the Prayuth regime can make a very real difference. The case is clear and Brussels has risen to the challenge."

Share this article: