‘Thai’s militaristic culture led to Thaksin’s ouster’

The Thai military succeeded in ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra not because of the weakness of the parliamentary system, but because Thais have a "militaristic culture" that allows coups as a means of changing the government, the head of a government agency advocating Charter change said yesterday.

Lito Monico, Charter Change Advocacy Commission chairman, said Thais tend to favor military rule over civilian governments so the parliamentary system should not be blamed for the political crisis in that country.

"The problem with the political culture of Thailand is that the military is regarded as superior over civilian rule," he said.

"Since the establishment of Thailand’s constitutional monarchy, there were only two periods, of about three years each, in which civilian-backed governments have emerged in Thailand."

On the other hand, lawyer Raul Lambino, Sigaw ng Bayan spokesman, said Thailand has had a history of coups that every now and then threatened its political stability, the latest being the 18th successful one since the postwar years.

"Unlike in other countries adopting the parliamentary system, Thailand has a constitutional monarchy, with a King who enjoys an enormous amount of respect and moral authority which, on occasions, has been used to resolve the country’s political crises," he said.

"This unique factor is the reason why we cannot use Thailand’s example as a gauge of the stability of the parliamentary system, especially in its classic sense."

Lorenzana said coups are "nothing new" to Thailand, where the military is considered an equal of the civilian government.

"Their mode of changing government is a coup because it is their kind of culture," he said. "What happened to them should not be compared with ours because our military is subservient to the people and rule of law."

Lorenzana said Thailand’s military has a long history of political involvement, and that military-dominated governments are very much the norm in modern Thai political history.

"For more than 65 years, governments have changed hands over 50 times," he said.

Of the 42 countries under a parliamentary form of government, only 13 have had a coup, Lorenzana quoted from the book, "Bureaucratic Power and Administrative Change" by Fred W. Riggs of the University of Hawaii.

Lambino, for his part, said under a classic parliamentary system, officials are removed through a vote of no confidence in the legislature.

"Thailand’s situation is not enough to discourage the people from supporting the parliamentary system because the advantages of this political setup on our stability and economy far outweigh the perceived disadvantages," he said.

The takeover of Thai army chief Sondhi Boonyaratkalin in Wednesday’s bloodless coup had the blessings of King Bhumibol, who is reportedly at odds politically with Shinawatra, Lambino said.

Pivotal roles

Meanwhile, Lorenzana has recognized the pivotal roles of Sigaw ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines in making the public aware of the need to amend the Constitution to strengthen political stability and spur economic growth.

Speaking at the Newsstand Forum at the Ambassador Hotel in Manila on Thursday, Lorenzana said the invaluable contributions of the two groups in advocating Charter change are among the salient features of an ad-com report submitted to President Arroyo last Wednesday.