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Thai Court Rejects Bid to Amend Constitution Thai Court Rejects Bid to Amend Constitution
(about 3 hours later)
A Thai court ruled on Wednesday that a major initiative by the ruling party was an attempt to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy, creating what one commentator called a power vacuum in a country already made fragile by weeks of antigovernment protests. BANGKOK — A Thai court ruled on Wednesday that a major initiative by the ruling party was an attempt to “overthrow” the country’s democratic system, increasing pressure on a beleaguered government already made fragile by weeks antigovernment protests.
The court ruled that members of the ruling party, which is controlled by the polarizing billionaire and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, acted against the Constitution when they tried to make the upper house of Parliament directly elected rather than partly appointed. The court ruled that members of the ruling party, which is controlled by the polarizing billionaire and former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, violated the Constitution when they tried to make the upper house of Parliament directly elected rather than partly appointed by judges and senior civil servants.
The ruling went to the heart of a power struggle in Thailand between Mr. Thaksin’s powerful political party, which has won every election since 2001 and has a loyal following in the hinterland, and members of the country’s elite, largely based in Bangkok, who are seeking to curtail Mr. Thaksin’s dominance. The five to four ruling went to the heart of a protracted struggle in Thailand between Mr. Thaksin’s powerful political party, which has won every election since 2001, and members of the country’s elite, largely based in Bangkok, who are seeking to curtail Mr. Thaksin’s dominance.
When Mr. Thaksin was removed from power in a 2006 coup d'état the Thai military appointed a committee that rewrote parts of the Constitution, including making the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, partly appointed by judges. When Mr. Thaksin was removed from power in a 2006 coup d'état the Thai military appointed a committee that rewrote parts of the Constitution, including making the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, partly appointed.
Mr. Thaksin’s party has tried to roll back those changes. Mr. Thaksin’s party was attempting to roll back those changes; the new amendment passed both houses of Parliament and was waiting signature by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Supot Kaimook, one of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court, said Wednesday that the rights of the minority in Parliament were being abused. Supot Kaimook, one of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court, argued in the court’s decision Wednesday that the rights of the minority were being trampled.
“Thailand’s democratic system allows the majority to set the standard,” he said in the ruling. “But once it uses its power arbitrarily and suppresses the minority without listening to reason, this makes the majority lose its legitimacy.”“Thailand’s democratic system allows the majority to set the standard,” he said in the ruling. “But once it uses its power arbitrarily and suppresses the minority without listening to reason, this makes the majority lose its legitimacy.”
He said the system could no longer be called “democratic” when the majority acted this way. “It results in the tyranny of the majority,” he said. He said the system could no longer be called “democratic” when the majority acted this way. “It results in the tyranny of the majority.”
Members of Mr. Thaksin’s party, Pheu Thai, have said in recent days that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter and they would not accept the ruling. Tens of thousands of government supporters, known as Red Shirts, have massed at a stadium in Bangkok. The court also ruled six to three that members of Parliament had violated procedures in passing the amendment.
In another part of Bangkok, the opposition Democrat Party has drawn tens of thousands of people to protest against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Ms. Yingluck is Mr. Thaksin’s sister. Members of Mr. Thaksin’s party — and a number of less partisan analysts — strongly criticized Wednesday’s decision as a retrograde attempt to mute the voice of the majority of the electorate.
Some in Thailand had speculated that the court would dissolve Mr. Thaksin’s party, as has happened twice in the past decade. But the court did not offer a remedy, leaving what Virapat Pariyawong, a Harvard-trained legal expert, said was a vacuum of power. “The Constitutional Court decision will make the divisions in our society even more obvious,” Charupong Ruangsuwan, the interior minister and leader of the ruling party, Pheu Thai.
“One side agrees that power derives from the entire people,” he said. “The other side believes that power should derive from the few. This is unacceptable.”
Members of Mr. Thaksin’s party have said in recent days that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter and they would not accept the ruling.
Thailand’s Constitution allows the Constitutional Court to adjudicate attempts to “overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.” But there is a dispute as to whether complaints need to be channeled through the prosecutor general, which Wednesday’s case was not.
In addition to this legal question, a number of experts said three judges on the Constitutional Court should have recused themselves from the case because they were members of the military-appointed committee that drafted the amendments to the Constitution after the 2006 coup.
One of the petitions before the court was the dissolution of Mr. Thaksin’s party, something courts have done twice in the past decade. The court rejected this request but did not offer an alternate remedy.
Tension had been building in anticipation of the verdict.
Tens of thousands of government supporters, known as Red Shirts, have massed at a stadium in Bangkok.
In another part of Bangkok, politicians tied to the opposition Democrat Party have rallied tens of thousands of protesters against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Ms. Yingluck is Mr. Thaksin’s sister.
The Democrat Party, which for years lived by a mantra that political disputes should stay inside the Parliament, has this year taken to the streets. The party won a victory earlier this month when the government withdrew a wide-ranging amnesty bill that would have eased the return to Thailand of Mr. Thaksin, who fled the country just before being convicted of abuse of power in 2008 and faces several other corruption-related cases if he returns.

Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok.