re: "Rivals at odds over 'oath' debate" (BP, September 2)
Dear editor,
Although correct in his statement about the still ongoing oath debacle that "The issue could have been settled a long time before it became messy had the prime minister admitted his gaffe and offered an apology," Veera Prateepchaikul suggests too low an opinion of the rule of law. An honourable man who respected the rule of law would not only have promptly apologized, but would have corrected the mistake long ago by the obvious course of retaking the oath in the correct legal form. Instead, Prime Minister Prayut has plunged the nation into this absurd farce where the very legality of the government of the man who has already overthrown one permanent Thai constitution remains in doubt.
And of course the debate should be open to the Thai people. It might be in accord with Thai tradition to keep Thai citizens ignorant of important matters of national concern to Thai citizens, but however hoary, such traditions have no place in a good society, certainly not in a democracy. The vague term "national security" is meaningless unless the exact reasons are spelled out, something that the government has failed to do as conspicuously as the PM and his cabinet have failed to comply with the explicit legal requirements in Section 161 of the constitution. But why would anyone think, as the government of the legally uncertain PM apparently does, that the Thai people should be kept in ignorance of the Thai monarchy? How could informed opinion on this in any way threaten national security? How, indeed, is censoring such knowledge showing respect to either the institution or to the nation? The nation, after all, is the Thai people, to whom Section 3 of the latest permanent constitution explicitly says the sovereign power belongs.
Felix Qui
_______________________________
The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on September 3, 2019, under the title "Absurd farce goes on" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1741559/absurd-farce-goes-on
No comments:
Post a Comment
However strongly dissenting or concurring, politely worded comments are welcome.
Please note, however, that, due to Felix Qui's liability for them, comments must comply with Thai law, and are moderated accordingly.