Cure-alls for the body politic?
Written by changthai11 on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
COMMENTARY
Cure-alls for the body politic?
Saritdet Marukatat
The main worry of the Food and Drug Administration right now is melamine-tainted milk powder from China. But keeping its eye on Chinese milk should not translate into ignorance of domestic products.
At present there are two locally-made medicines that look very suspicious, as both claim to be a quick fix for the deteriorating political health.
One is the “New Politics” medicine being offered by Dr PAD. The other is the “Article 291″ brand introduced by Dr Somchai Wongsawat.
The political doctors from Government House-based People’s Alliance for Democracy have the public perplexed about their product, which has come on the market despite the fact that the formula remains unsettled.
The group started with the 70:30 formula. It was a combination of 70% indirectly elected and 30% elected representatives.
The reason behind the need to introduce this medicine, according to them, was to cure a serious political symptom, as the country showed signs that the government under the People Power party would never give up its attempts to help former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to survive the alleged corruption charges.
One example was the earlier joint attempt by politicians and the government “to amend the constitution to lower the authority of the judiciary and the checks and balance system”.
The 70:30 formula was expected to fight this disease. It would turn the country into a “true democracy”.
Luckily for the country and, shockingly for the producers, the medicine flopped - as nobody was keen to buy it.
The reason for this failure was simple. Consumers suspected it would destroy the principle of democracy, instead of improving it as Dr PAD was boasting.
This formula certainly would be a countdown to the end of the political system if the public imbibed this medicine into its body politic.
It would discourage people from entering politics. They would simply sit at home, waiting for an invitation from interest groups to name him or her as their representative to contest in the indirect election. It would be an embarrassment for Thai politics, given that direct representatives would comprise less than half of the total seats in parliament.
After learning of the market’s reaction, Dr PAD gave up this formula but never gave up on the medicine. “The proposal on the PAD stage of a 70:30 ratio of public representatives to elected representatives is merely an example of how the old-style politics should be replaced and is open to discussion,” they said in a statement to calm the panic. “It is not a fixed formula advocated by the PAD,” they added.
After going back to their lab at Government House, they came up with another formula for their New Politics brand, 50:50, to test the market. As the figures indicate, half the House would come from direct representatives and the other half indirectly.
They hoped that this version would turn around their fortunes. But it received little enthusiasm because of the same suspicions.
What the public were interested in, was a new product introduced last week by Dr Somchai, who leads the consortium comprising the PPP and six other partners. Their new factory is located at Don Mueang Airport, after the old factory was taken over by Dr PAD.
Dr Somchai surprised even the PAD last week with his Article 291 brand to make the country politically healthy again. His drug looks simple. Once you swallow it, Article 291 will be altered so that a new set of drafters will have authority to look into your constitution and decide how to change it.
Dr Somchai promises consumers that he will keep his hands off the process to select the writers and even a chairman who could easily influence the direction of the charter amendment. But no one was eager to buy his drug because of his background. He is the brother-in-law of Mr Thaksin.
He rattled the market with his statement in Chiang Mai that his brother-in-law was a good guy but that he would not lend Mr Thaksin a hand in the fight to prove his innocence.
Dr Somchai’s leadership is in doubt. The public has begun to think he probably cannot control everybody at his plant, after Chaiwat Sinsuwong, who works for Dr PAD, was arrested on Friday on an arrest warrant.
Warning: Taking medicine from the two producers could involve a risk. The consumer should carefully study the information before making any decision.
Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.
