After the Criminal Court handed five years in jail against Yingluck, the junta issued an organic law that forces her to appeal the case in person. Meanwhile, the junta’s National Strategic Plan has faced the ‘strongest’ rejection.
Last week, the prosecution against Yingluck over Rice Pledging Scheme (RPS) has come to an end after the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political read the verdict on 27 September.
The court handed five years imprisonment against Yingluck without suspended term. She was charged for neglecting duty, leading to huge corruption committed by other officials in her government. The court also issued a warrant for her arrest since she had fled the case.
The verdict was originally scheduled to be read on 25 August but had to be postponed till last week since Yingluck fled the country nearly before the judgement day. Her whereabout remain unconfirmed and foreign media and the ruling junta have given different answers.
The Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told media last week that Yingluck was in Dubai and had promised that she will not take part in Thai politics anymore. Meanwhile, the CNN’s source confirmed that she was in the UK seeking for asylum.
Back to Thailand, the junta last week has continued its so-called “roadmap to democracy”, together with ensuring Yingluck’s “justice”. On 28 September, the Organic Act on Procedure of Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political was put into effect. The law states that suspects have to appear at the court in person before appealing their case.
The Chairman of Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC) Meechai Runguphan also confirmed to the media that Yingluck has to show up at the court first in order to appeal her case. He added that even though she came back and received the jail sentence, she will be barred from reentering the politics according to the 2017 Charter.
The Organic Act on Procedure of Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political is one of the 10 organic laws that the CDC has to draft according to the 2017 Constitution. In order to hold a general election, the CDC has to finish drafting four crucial organic acts related to election including organic acts on general elections, on election commission, on the selection of senators, and on political parties.
However, only the organic acts on election commission and on political parties has been drafted so far, raising the question if the general election can be held within 2018 as the junta planned in its “roadmap to democracy.”
Apart from hosting an election, the junta also promised to draft the National Strategic Plan before it step down from power. According to the charter, this plan will be a guideline that future civilian governments have to follow for the next 20 years.
The junta has also appointed National Strategic Committee (NSC) who will monitor the civilian administration. Most of the members NSC are either head of security branches, representatives of big corporations or people who worked closely with the junta.
Last week, the Office of Prime Minister has published the lists of members of the NSC subcommissions who will design the National Strategic Plan in particular issues. One member that became talk of the town is Chatchart Sitthiphan, former Transportation Minister during Yinglcuk government.
He was subsequently criticised for betraying his old party, give that the ruling junta staged the coup against Yingluck in 2014. However, Chatchart later posted on his Facebook page that he will not accepted the junta’s offer, reasoning that he does not understand the junta’s National Strategy clear enough.
“Michael Porter, a strategic guru once said ‘the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.’ If we know that we’re not good at something, we should choose not to do it so we won’t waste time of other and ourselves,” read Chatchart’s post.
Chatchart was one of the most popular ministers under Yingluck government. His fans called him “the strongest Transportation Minister on earth.” He proposed the project to construct a 2bn-worth high-speed train but the Constitutional Court dismissed the project. He usually traveled by public transportation and review the problems in consumer perspective on his facebook page.
But the event that made him gained the “strongest” reputation was the the picture of himself walking to a market in the morning. He wore chilling vest and sandals, revealing his extraordinarily buffed body. Like Chuck Norris, his picture become a famous meme on internet for short period of time.
The rejection of the junta’s offer is another prove that he is truly a “strongest minister on earth.”
A memefied Chatchart’s photo (Photo from Pantip)