Political consultation needs regulations
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Negotiations between the Thai government and the Red Shirts came to an end when Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, the Red Shirts' military adviser, was shot dead on May 13. The eruption of violence that followed proved that a democracy without a political consulting process is doomed to fail.
Throughout the past two months, the Red Shirt protests have come close to achieving the same results as peaceful negotiations. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held two rounds of talks with Red Shirt leaders. The government also agreed to dissolve the lower house of parliament in the second half of September. However, many people now realize that they were just too optimistic.
Both sides have shown a sincerity to negotiate, so how did the promising trend come to a sudden stop?
First, the two sides differ greatly in political appeals. Maintaining stability and social order is the government's top priority. Although the two sides once shared the same viewpoint in dissolving the lower house of parliament, the Red Shirts have other political goals that the government won't accept.
"They want the new power to come in, they want to change all sort of laws, they want to change the regime, and make sure that they can whitewash Thaksin Shinawatra and he can come back in power again,"said Surat Horachaikul, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University.
Second, there is no concrete process in political consultation. Thailand's democracy allows the freedom to hold street assemblies and protests, but it lacks regulations to hold the protests in a rational way. That's why the red-dressed demonstrators have occupied central commercial districts, blocked intersections and even forced their way into the parliament building, sending government leaders fleeing by helicopter. Whenever demonstrations are carried out in such a violent way, it's difficult for negotiations to yield huge results.
Third, the whole society has lost its patience with both sides, which has aggravated the confrontation. On the one hand, common and neutral people are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the Red Shirts because the protest is disrupting their lives. On the other hand, the government has been encouraged as more and more common people have stopped supporting the protestors, and the government has therefore become more reluctant to compromise in the negotiations. Force has been invited as the confrontation has intensified.
There will be no winner in Thailand's political game. The Red Shirts have made themselves unpopular and more than half of the Thai population refuses to support the group. Many of the government's administrative goals were unobtainable because the government was struggling to deal with the Red Shirts. Common people have lost their confidence in both sides.
Thailand's unrest has proved once again that a democracy without a legitimate political consulting process is fragile. Democracy doesn't mean absolute freedom. In a democratic regime, people can enjoy freedom only when they behave in accordance with laws and regulations.
(This article was translated by Xiang Bin.)
