In Thailand: A Reality Check
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008James Klein is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand. He can be reached in Bangkok at jklein@asiafound.org.
On December 2, 2008, Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled to disband three core parties in Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s beleaguered ruling coalition government: the People Power Party (PPP), Chat Thai (CT), and Matchima Thipataya (MT). The Court also revoked the voting rights of the executives of the three parties for five years, effectively banning them from politics for the duration. Among those executives is Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. Although PPP spokesmen have protested that the Court refused to hear over 200 witnesses in the defense of the three parties, the testimony of witnesses would have had little bearing on the Court’s final decisions.
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