THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-66

POLITICAL CRISIS OF THAILAND 2012-14

After about two years of YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA ( THE FIRST LADY PRIME MINISTER OF THAILAND ) regime , Protesters started movement against her government . A broad alliance of Protesters under the leadership of SUTHEP THAUGSUBAN , the former Deputy Leader of the opposition party , demanded an end of the THAKSIN regime ( AS PM YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA WAS THAKSIN SHINAWATRA’S DAUGHTER ) in the later part of 2013 . During YINGLUCK regime , a blanket amnesty had been given to the Protesters of 2010 . Apart from that all people involved in any type of political crimes including all convictions against TAKSIN SHINAWATRA , the former Prime Minister , had been included in the amnesty list , thus , they all were freed from the captivity . This action of the government triggered a discontent among the masses . As a result , as many as 400,000 people came on the road of BANKOCK against the YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA’S government . The Senate of THAILAND was urged to reject the bill regarding this to quell the reaction of the masses . But the attempt failed considerably . And the newly formed PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REFORM COMMUNITEE ( PDRC ) along with other allies groups started putting pressure on the government to resgine . The opposition DEMOCRAT PARTY started mass resignation from the Parliament . The Protesters’ volume of demands ( reasonable and unreasonable— both ) increased many times . In place of YINGLUCK government , they demanded for the establishment of an indirectly elected ‘ People’s Council ‘ to govern the country . In response to such a massive protest by the people , YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA dissolved the parliament on 9th December 2013 and proposed a new election on 2nd February 2014 . But the PDRC’S demand was that YINGLUCK government should resigned within twenty four hours . On the other hand , YINGLUCK insisted that she should continue her duty till the end of scheduled election in the February 2014 . The Election Commission had started the process of the election in the country with the registration process for the Political Party’s candidates lists for 14th February Election of the country . YINGLUCK’S PHEU THAI PARTY in anticipation of upcoming election on 14th February 2014 , had prepared a list of 125 candidates to be presented to the Election Commission as such . But the Anti-government Protesters on 22nd December 2013 under the leadership of SUTHEP THAUGSUBAN and the newly formed party PDRC with approximately 270,000 Protesters marched towards the THAI-JAPANESE SPORTS STADIUM , the venue of the registration process for the upcoming election in THAILAND , and stopped the entire process of the election at initial stage as such . On the other hand , the Constitutional Court of THAILAND on dated 7th May 2014 , ruled that YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA would have to step down as the Prime Minister as she had abused her power by transferring a high level government official . And on 21st August , she was replaced by the army chief GENERAL PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA . Thus , ended an other elected government in THAILAND .

THAI COUP D’ETAT OF 1914

The National Assembly of THAILAND made the army chief GENERAL PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA as the Prime Minister on 21st August 2014 . Martial law was formally declared which ended on 1st April 2015 . After the Junta took control of the country , academics and political commentators try to propagate ideas of fascism to which PITHAYA POOKAMAN and JAMES TAYLOR called as ‘ NEW RIGHTS ‘. They were consisted of altraconservatives , reactionaries and former leftists . To JOHN DRAPER , an academician , fascism developed in THAILAND in 2014 . On the other hand , the ruling Junta , though promised to hold elections soon , yet before that they wanted to enact a new constitution for THAILAND . When the draft prepared by the ruling Junta was rejected by the government officials in 2015 . Then , a national referendum on the newly drafted constitution was held on 7th August 2016 in which out of 55% voting 61% people voted for the newly drafted constitution as such . And there was a provision in the new constitution that even an unelected person and other than a member of parliament could be appointed as the Prime Minister of THAILAND . This had given the way for the Military officials to be the Prime Minister of the country . Simultaneously , the new constitution also gave the NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PEACE AND ORDER power and authority to make appointments of 250 members of Senate in the next government . Thus , indirectly almost all things now revolved around the Prime Minister of the country which even may be the military officials as such .

KING RAMA-X AND THAILAND

When the King BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ (RAMA-IX) died on 13th October 2016 at the age of 89 in SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL in THAILAND , fifteenth day after his death , the then Regent PREM TINSULANONDA (a THAI military officer , a politician and a statesman who served as the country’s Prime Minister from 3rd March 1980 to 4th August 1988 , credited for ending the COMMUNIST insurgency and the accelerating economic growth , was Resent of THAILAND from 13th October 2016 to 1st December 2016 ) invited MAHA VAJIRALONGKORN to ascend to the throne of THAILAND as the 10th king of the CHAKRI Dynasty under the title of King RAMA-X . And King RAMA-X signed a new constitution in April 2017 so that democracy could again be brought in the country . In June 2019 , PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA , a retired General and former military Junta leader , was elected the next Prime Minister of THAILAND by the both houses of the parliament . And thus , a civilian rule in THAILAND was ultimately restored with elected Prime Minister like Rt. General PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA came to power .