Pubdate: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2003 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 Author: Thepchai Yong HARD TALK: THERE'S NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF When human-rights commissioner Pradit Charoenthaithawee told a panel discussion last week that the present administration had its critics cowering with fear of retribution, he was not exaggerating. As if to reinforce Pradit's statement, the next day a group of Thai Rak Thai MPs threatened to have him impeached for crying foul to the United Nations over the spate of drug-related killings. Pradit is not the only person who feels he is living in fear. Members of other independent organisations entrusted constitutionally with the duty to keep checks and balances on politicians and bureaucrats are also feeling the political heat. Journalists had felt the political pressure bearing on them probably long before anybody else. While Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has made no efforts to hide his disdain for independent bodies, it's his ongoing crusade against drugs that has led him to declare open war on his critics - the United Nations included. It's quite an irony that a new culture of fear is being created just as Thailand is supposed to be marching forward towards political reform. And it's even more ironic that those who are bearing the brunt are the very bodies that were intended by the Constitution to underpin that reform. What is probably more alarming than the war of words is the systematic attempts by the powers that be to undermine the neutrality, and subsequently the credibility, of bodies charged with counterbalancing state power. Last week's election of the new deputy Senate speaker clearly demonstrated the extent of influence of the ruling politicians over members of the upper house. Suchon Chaleekrua, a senator known for his conservative views, makes no bones about his close ties to the Thai Rak Thai Party of Prime Minister Thaksin. It was only last August that Sahad Phinthusenee, another senator from Sa Kaew, who is closely allied with Thai Rak Thai's chief advisor Sanoh Thienthong, was elected second deputy Senate speaker. The reforming 1997 Constitution envisaged a Senate as a politically independent legislative body vis-a-vis state power. That's why among its most crucial responsibilities is to appoint members of all independent bodies - from the Election Commission and Constitution Court to the National Broadcast Commission. At least during Thaksin's earlier months in power, the Senate was able to display a semblance of independence in scrutinising the performance of the government and at times became more than just a political irritant to the politicians in power. But it was only a matter of time before the Senate fell victim to interference by the ruling coalition, whose ultimate aim is to perpetuate a complete control of both houses. The extent of the interference was clearly reflected in the elections of the two deputy Senate speakers and the recent appointment of the four new members of the Constitution Court who are known to have the support of the ruling coalition. The fight last year over the appointment of a member to chair the Election Commission that resulted in victory for a government-backed candidate was an early alarm bell that the Senate was no longer a trustworthy legislative body in checking and balancing state power. It is therefore not difficult to imagine how the appointments of the National Broadcast Commission and the National Telecommunication Commission, two other independent bodies entrusted with reforming the broadcast media and telecommunications industry, will be handled by the Senate. The public certainly has a lot to fear if it can no longer count on independent bodies to protect its interests and keep checks on politicians. The current war on drugs stands as testimony to the danger of how far a government which has a monopoly on power can go in having its way. Even the House committee on foreign affairs succumbed to pressure from the government and cancelled a seminar to evaluate the effects of the drug-suppression policy. The Thaksin administration has demonstrated that it is not reluctant to use all the mechanisms at its disposal to get things done the way it wants while ignoring dissenting views. The violent war on drugs is the clearest testimony to that, with critics blasted daily as "unpatriotic" or "sympathisers" of drug dealers. Pradit is paying the price for crossing Thaksin's path. Besides earning the prime minister's verbal wrath, he is also being subject to what he believes to be harassment in the form of daily threatening phone calls and stalking by strangers in jungle fatigues - not to mention the aborted attempt by Thai Rak Thai MPs to have him impeached. If people like Pradit, a well-known advocate of democracy and human rights, and other high-profile social activists don't feel safe, just imagine how the rest of the society feels. Rosana Tositrakul, a leading anti-corruption campaigner, poignantly summed up the mood of many when she recalled during last week's panel discussion a question she had heard earlier: "Why are we being cowed by the same people we voted into office?" - --- MAP posted-by: Josh