Oh noHAVING launched more than a dozen coups in the past 80 years, Thailand’s generals have not been friends of democracy. So it has been jarring to watch the country’s ruling junta praise Thais for approving an army-backed constitution in a heavily-controlled “referendum”, which took place on August 7th. Prayuth Chan-ocha, an irascible former army chief who became prime minister after a military takeover in 2014, insists the new charter will end a decade of political instability and allow for fresh elections next year. In fact it will not heal Thailand’s deep divisions but make them worse.
The constitution, Thailand’s twentieth, will keep soldiers in charge for years to come. New election rules will produce weak coalition governments that can be bossed around by bodies stacked with the junta’s friends. The generals will handpick a 250-member senate, tasked with ensuring governments do not deviate from a 20-year programme of “reforms”. They will need to convince only a quarter of legislators in the lower house to back their choice of prime minister, who need not be an MP. Barriers to amending the...Continue reading
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