Yellow shirts have lost their shine
yellow shirts
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) no longer draws the same crowds as it did several years ago, says Veera Prateepchaikul, former editor of Bangkok Post in his old newspaper.
Many supporters have turned their backs on the movement because it advised to cast a no-vote vote in the elections, ie not to vote for the Democrats.
Figurehead Sondhi Limthongkul has fallen through the cracks after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud committed by his media company. And the anti-Thaksin rally of the Siam Sammakhi group last Friday in Lumpini was attended by only a thousand people.
Veera thinks that the whole issue of constitutional amendment will provoke little public response simply because the issue is elusive and has no relevance to people's daily lives. They are more concerned about the rising costs of food and other necessities of life.
Nevertheless, Veera expects political confrontation to be inevitable. Whether it degenerates into violence depends on how far government or Pheu ภาษาไทย want to go into rewriting the constitution.
There is a good chance that the whole operation will be successful if they stay away from the articles dealing with the monarchy and make minor changes to the articles about the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court, as well as independent organizations like the National Anti-Corruption Commission, leave the Ombudsman and the Electoral Council undisturbed.
[Explanation: Six proposals to amend Article 291 of the Constitution are currently before parliament. When that article is amended, a citizens' assembly will be formed to revise the 2007 constitution, which was drafted under military rule. The proposals of the assembly are then put to the people in a referendum. Parliament is not involved. There are fears that the assembly is dominated by Pheu Thai adherents.
The proposals from the cabinet, Pheu Thai and coalition party Chartthaipattana have now been dealt with in the first term; the other three, submitted by citizens' groups, have yet to be discussed. A chamber panel is currently considering the details of the three proposals. Two more installments follow the first.]