The Coup
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Well, it's not often that we see such quick changes in government in a normally peaceful country, but that's what's been going on. It seems that a Thai army general took advantage the UN meeting in New York to kick his country's prime minister out of office. Apparently the Thai prime minister wasn't universally loved.
Today, the Thai king (who is constantly being described as "universally loved" or "revered") endorsed the military leader, who claims he's going to have a new constitution drafted (perhaps to avoid this sort of thing in the future?) and appoint a civilian prime minister in advance of elections to be held next year.
At least it was bloodless. Nobody was killed and that's a "good thingÂ", but what's the message that this sends? In democratic countries it's NOT okay to just kick out the leader; generally there's a process for this sort of thing that works within the framework of the legal system. I hope this works out. I hope that Thailand can finally build a LASTING constitution that will allow reform and change without military intervention.
Of course, it may be that they're on to something 'cause we here in the USA have been needing a coup for years and we're stuck voting biannually for our leaders.
Today, the Thai king (who is constantly being described as "universally loved" or "revered") endorsed the military leader, who claims he's going to have a new constitution drafted (perhaps to avoid this sort of thing in the future?) and appoint a civilian prime minister in advance of elections to be held next year.
At least it was bloodless. Nobody was killed and that's a "good thingÂ", but what's the message that this sends? In democratic countries it's NOT okay to just kick out the leader; generally there's a process for this sort of thing that works within the framework of the legal system. I hope this works out. I hope that Thailand can finally build a LASTING constitution that will allow reform and change without military intervention.
Of course, it may be that they're on to something 'cause we here in the USA have been needing a coup for years and we're stuck voting biannually for our leaders.
posted by Burton at 8:25 AM
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