Superheroes of doctored democracy

Superheroes of doctored democracy

This is the week when the draft constitution is being debated and the “citizen-centric” charter proposed by legal superheroes — Iron Menace, Thor-toise, Captain anti-America, etc — are scrutinised. The people will be at the centre of the new era, so they promise. The citizens, or at least “good citizens”, will be empowered to stand up against suit-and-tie crooks while judicial rat poison and ethical vanguards will ensure that Thais are cleansed of evil politics.

  Good to hear. But the paradox of life in 21st century Thailand is just too heady. For instance, the citizens weren’t supposed to know the content of the citizen-centric constitution in the first place; when the Constitution Drafting Committee submitted their 194-page piece of literature to the National Reform Assembly (NRA), the press wasn’t allowed to see it, and the copy that has circulated online is technically a leak. An inclusive charter began its journey by excluding citizens. So much for people’s empowerment.

Then we have all these election-vs-selection issues. Only a third of the Senate will come from a poll, with the rest to be handpicked like vintage (meaning old) grapes from cobwebbed vineyards and bureaucratic cupboards. Retired generals will be prominently featured in the mix, like a crew of superheroes who materialise to make sure that while citizens can tick, tick, tick and choose their MPs, the final say in parliament rests with something higher, more obscure, and has firepower.

The prospect of a non-elected PM descends upon desperate Siamese souls like an artificial rainbow. This is the first time in over 20 years that a constitution would allow that, emboldened by a false sense of exceptionalism and “Thai-style” paradoxocrazy. People who wrote that are still listening to Abba or Lionel Richie. Of course there are clauses to make it appear that this non-parliamentary outsider would arrive as an emergency redeemer in the case of comatose politics, but it’s the spirit that counts. Actually, this is the crux of the irony: the good people, the Chosen Ones, the Avengers or Jedi Council, firmly believe that they’re salvaging us from the hellfire of electoral sins, and we should just sit back, go shopping, recite the 12 Values, watch Naresuan 6 or Spongebob, and let them perform the moral crusade for our own good.

Speaking of which, morality binges are a sign of our times, and you’d almost think that the new charter has a hidden sci-fi agenda to build moral robots to run this country plagued by criminals, thugs and thieves. The draft stipulates the establishment of several new agencies; some sound good on paper, such as the People’s Assembly, which is intended as a citizen watchdog. But other new bodies sound vague, doubtful, and reek of an attempt to extend the control of the coup-appointed assemblies through the weaponisation of “goodness”.

A real gem among them is the proposed National Ethics Assembly, which, should it come into existence, is a constitutional acknowledgement that some people are more virtuous than others. Based on what? If legal superheroes are bad, the moral Godzilla is much worse. Why don’t they test-run their efficacy with the megaprojects that are getting the quick go-ahead, such as the high-speed train or the Pak Bara deep-sea port?

It’s not that hard for the charter writers — and the junta who put them there — to show that they truly want the citizens at the centre of our new, evil-free, tax-loaded, high-speed-train era. A lot of people have asked for a referendum, most prominently Abhisit Vejjajiva, and they don’t seem to listen. I thought that was the least we could ask for.

Even before that kind of constitutional participation, a citizens’ era can mean something much simpler. It should mean that a photo exhibition about the lives of southern villagers at the site of the planned deep-sea port need not worry about a visit from men in uniform (you should go see Pak Bara Paradiso at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, until tomorrow). A citizens’ era should mean that a small film screening hosted by students need not be cancelled after a request from an invisible power — a students’ film showcase in Bang Saen that would have at best 30 viewers, really? A citizens’ era should mean that a theatre performer need not answer a phone call from a soldier and worry about who’d turn up to watch her play. A citizens’ era should mean that we have a copy of the draft constitution mailed to our homes instead of having to prowl the web like bootleggers in search of a leak.

In the final paradox, our superheroes are neither super nor heroic. And if they insist on going down this path, the new constitution will be neither new nor constitutional.


Kong Rithdee is Deputy Life Editor, Bangkok Post.

Kong Rithdee

Bangkok Post columnist

Kong Rithdee is a Bangkok Post columnist. He has written about films for 18 years with the Bangkok Post and other publications, and is one of the most prominent writers on cinema in the region.

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