THE people have spoken, albeit in a muted and contrived fashion. In a closely-controlled constitutional referendum held in Thailand on August 7th, 61% of voters endorsed a charter promoted by the army (which has held power since a coup in 2014). Turnout was low, at 55%. The constitution will keep the armed forces in power long into the future.
The results stunned pro-democracy campaigners, who had believed that the charter (Thailand’s most regressive yet, drawn up without public participation) would face fierce opposition in the polls. But the main political parties, who had recommended rejecting the constitution, have accepted the result.
The charter introduces new electoral rules designed to produce weak coalition governments, which will be chaperoned by “independent” commissions (stacked with the junta’s allies) who are to monitor politicians’ policies and moral conduct. The army will fully select the senate; assuming its support, the generals will need to persuade only a quarter of legislators in the lower house to back their choice of prime minister, who need not be an MP. The hurdles to amending the constitution are...Continue reading
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