It was a perfect choice when members of People Power Party picked an old hand in politics with bruises and scars, Samak Sundaravej, to lead what is promising to become a dreadful and probably violent political vendetta.
Sopon Ongkara
The Nation
Published on August 26, 2007
Samak wasted no time and left no doubt in peoples' minds when he declared that he would serve as a "political nominee" for Thaksin Shinawatra, now seeking exile in London and branded a fugitive criminal with at least two arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court.
Interestingly, an editorial in The Nation defended Samak's right to participate in politics, contradicting Sopon's anti-democratic tendencies to disenfranchise and incriminate anybody associated with Thaksin.
Samak in politics is everything but harmonious and courteous. His mouth serves as his most fearsome weapon, though at times self-destructive - as seen from the decline and eventual demise of his Prachakorn Thai Party.
I am suprised Sopon doesn't embrace this; stylistically,they are both two peas in a pod.
The way he displayed his confrontational political style amidst thunderous applause from party members, Samak was back to his original form - combative, abrasive and spoiling for any kind of a fight.
"You hit me, and I hit back. It will be just like that," he declared.
This might be refreshing, if it is done within the auspices of the law.
Samak's words represented a complete disregard for more than 10 hours spent by the Constitution Tribunal in describing how Thaksin, his family members and cronies had inflicted severe damage on the country through various means such as massive corruption, abuse of power and other misdeeds.
Soponism 1: What does Samak wanting to fight back have to do with Thaksin's crimes?
In a nutshell, Samak is ready and willing to serve the accused, who he considers a victim of a coup and undemocratic process. The 72-year-old veteran must have forgotten that back in 1976 he was a shining star in a regime serving as a product of a coup as well.
It looks like Samak is a beneficiary of two coups. Thanks Sopon for point out the bleeding obvious.
What he intends to achieve can foretell what is to come - before or after the general elections expected late this year: political turbulence if not violence arising from confrontation and power play.
Soponism 2: Write so badly that the audience has no idea what the hell he is talking about.
As a tough fighter, Samak does not care much about the ways and means he chooses to win over opponents. His long years in gutter politics, including the period of horror and terror, serve as a strong testimony to this.
Again, stating the bleeding obvious.
His re-emergence proves again that in politics there is life after death. It must have been a very seductive offer from the fugitive criminal in London to draw Samak out of his twilight and down time to try another comeback, this time armed with a huge war chest.
What war chest? Politicians are supposed to declare their campaign funds; ironically, a worthless paper like The Nation won't ever publish any reports about campaign financing.
Samak would love to fight with big money, as a man with nothing to lose. It serves many purposes. His combative style can draw the bad light away from Thaksin, while showing that he, Samak, is not washed up or can be counted out.
It would not be far off the mark to say that Thaksin and his cronies will dump billions of baht for Samak and the People Power Party to win the upcoming election. The large campaign funds will be just small change compared with the massive assets Thaksin owns, frozen here or stashed abroad.
Soponism 3: Always over-estimate the power of Thaksin's wealth on Thai politics. Soponism 4: Never document with facts how Thaksin's wealth affects Thai politics.
Yet Samak still faces formidable obstacles to political grandeur. He is waiting for the judgement of the Appeals Court after receiving a two-year jail term, without suspended sentence, in a libel case filed by a former deputy governor of Bangkok.
Indeed.
He has been engulfed by scandals related to the expensive procurement of fire-fighting vehicles and suspected corruption in a garbage-disposal project. These charges could derail his plan to serve as Thaksin's nominee in political victory and settling of scores.
With the junta chosen investigative committees going after Thaksin's family, allies and friends, Samak's 9th life might be short-lived.
His strong weapon, his oratorical skills and combative style, are also a weak point. Samak is not a man who wants a compromise, unless he is put in a tight spot or faces the risk of jail terms. He has escaped possible imprisonment through pleas and charm to soften the hearts of his plaintiffs.
But certainly not this time, if the Appeals Court upholds the ruling, because the plaintiff is affiliated with the Democrat Party, his arch-rival, if not permanent enemy.
Sopon's writing is so horrible and the syntax convoluted, I don't know if I can follow this. Is he saying that Sopon won't win on appeal because the plaintiffs are Democrats?
Our politics from now on will not be far away from the gutter, surely more colourful and dreadful, with promise of turbulence and money dumping. Ex-Thai Rak Thai Party members, now split into many groups as unbranded nominees of Thaksin, can regroup to reclaim power.
Soponism 6: I agree with this Soponism.
This is not sheer pessimism. The lack of a stable political situation before or after the election will be due mainly to the unfinished business, or unfulfilled missions, on the part of the coup-makers and the Surayud government.
Soponism 6: Sopon blames the junta for not destroying Thaksin, and that is why we are in this mess.
The failure to carry out political reforms and national restructuring to lay down the proper groundwork for reconstruction of democracy underscores the belief that we are still far from political maturity.
Soponism 7: Huh? Dude, an entire constitution was re-written by his beloved junta in the name of political reform and national restructuring.
If big money prevails, preceding instability, then rumours of a coup and scenes of troops and battle tanks on the city streets are always a distinct possibility.
And so it ends with more horrible writing and convoluted syntax.
1 comment:
Fonzi, what happened to you? How did you manage to miss out on a golden opportunity to become a well-respected member of the People Power Party? I reckon you could do well with Samak Sundaravej to inherit Thaksin’s ideology and policies, such as the shoot-to-kill campaign. The one-time Bangkok mayor blithely said that he did not even care if people thought of him as a Thaksin puppet, which, of course, is not dissimilar to Fonzi’s attitude. Go on Fonzi, at least you could ask for a job as a spokesperson for the PPP, instead of keeping on launching eternal, personal ding-dongs against a dependable, integrity newspaper like the Nation.
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