The kick-boxing battle of the century continues. Thailand's People's Alliance for Democracy has scored yet another win over its arch-nemesis, Thaksin Shinawatra. The Constitutional Court's dissolving of the ruling People Power Party, the successor to the ousted leader's similarly disbanded Thai Rak Thai party, and removal of his son-in-law as prime minister, would seem a fatal double blow. Reality is somewhat different, of course: in no time, there will be a successor and the next round will begin.
Looking at the political turmoil in the so-called 'Land of Smiles' in this light strips away much of the confusion. Will there be another coup? Is the king going to intervene? What is the alliance's next move? Who will be the next prime minister? All become unnecessary if we step back and take in the wider picture. It is not a matter of which side is evil or good. Just as in a boxing ring, it is about winners and losers.
Thaksin would seem to have taken a battering so far. Another kick to the head and he should be down for good, some might assume. He was ousted in a coup, has been found guilty of corruption, his billions of dollars in Thai assets have been frozen, Britain denied him exile, he had to sell his beloved Manchester City football club and he is now a fugitive in Dubai. Despite all this, I contend that, until the political agitators work with instead of against the government, he will always be the eventual winner.
This is not to say I am a fan. Thaksin's time in office was tainted by gross violations of human rights. Extrajudicial killings, a curtailing of freedom of speech and a rise in corruption and erosion of the rule of law marked his time in office. He abused his position for financial and business gains.
Regardless, the political vehicle he established in 1998 that took him to power, Thai Rak Thai, is the heart of a democratic Thailand. The adoring support base in the country's north and northeast it built up through policies for the rural poor has swept pro-Thaksin forces into power time and again. The elitist alliance's urban base is tiny by comparison; it is regrettable that its supporters, knowing they cannot win at the ballot box, have used illegal means to gain the upper hand.
Thais deserve better, of course. Put bluntly, Thaksin is a thug. But the alliance has shown that it is no better. The outrages of the past four months reveal their win-at-all-costs mentality. Thailand can suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in lost trade, its image can be trampled on, tourists can be scared off, but these are of less concern than crushing a popular political foe.
