OPINION

Choking democracy

Re: "Govt won't 'mess' with military", (BP, Dec 12).

The government should not mess with the military. In a democracy, the military should not mess with the government. Thailand has a long way to go to become a democracy.

One-sided critique

Re: "Democracy in action with bid to target Yoon", (Opinion, Dec 11).

The author of this opinion piece, Aziz Huq, appears to be a far-left academic, a prolific author who consistently pens attacks upon the US constitution, advocating his recommendations for change consistent with the goal of destabilising the republic while elevating the Democratic Party.

In the present article, Huq both extolls the "artful" nature of the Korean constitution and derides the US constitution: Thanks to wise choices made by the drafters of the South Korean constitution, impeachment functions as a "hard reset" of the democratic system. When malign incumbents show their true colours, they can be shown the door before public confidence in the system is lost." Here, Huq laments the inability to remove Donald Trump from office despite his impeachment.

In this commentary, Huq also fails to mention the extraordinary influence of the Communist Party of China and North Korea upon the current political situation in South Korea and geopolitics. Failing to present well-rounded and balanced information, his commentary shows a biased partisanship.

It would be refreshing to occasionally read an opinion from the Project Syndicate with a balanced presentation.

Ending coup culture

Re: "Learn from Seoul", (PostBag, Dec 5) & "South Korean president declares martial law", (Online, Dec 3).

Khun Burin Kantabutra is right in saying that Thai military and civilian leaders should learn from South Korea's handling of President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of the short-lived martial law.

However, Khun Burin might be a bit optimistic about the Thai social, political, and cultural mindset in countering a leader's unilateral abuse of power. The roots of military coups in Thailand are deeply engrained, and, on many occasions, even the people seem to endorse such an unlawful act. Parit Wacharasindhu, the People's Party spokesperson, has indicated that certain laws must be amended to counter military coups.

These are (1) the armed forces council must be under civilian leadership. The military will be consulted, not act upon, only with regards to the national security; (2) the coup leader must be held accountable, and there should not be any amnesty for such an unlawful act; (3) the armed forces personnel may deny and not cooperate with any unauthorised and unlawful orders from any military leaders; and (4) the judicial bodies must not validate such a coup.

These amendments to the law have been put up for parliamentary debate but have not progressed. Most importantly, to preserve democracy, the people should be mindful of such unilateral use of power without the elected parliament's consent.

It is up to the people to oppose such a dictatorial act. Our democracy and, accordingly, the economy will not flourish if there is "power behind the scenes" dictating the path of our political system.