Political dinosaurs form new Thai party

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Politics by proxy in Thailand
BANGKOK - When Thaksin Shinawatra launched his populist Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, it ran and was swept into electoral office on a "think new, act new" campaign slogan. Six years and one military coup later, the party's new incarnation as the People's Power Party (PPP), in contrast, represents a distinct step back in time.

On May 30, TRT was legally dissolved and its executive members banned for five years from politics by the military-created Constitution Tribune on electoral-fraud charges held over from inconclusive 2005 polls. Next week, TRT's political remnants will formally reconvene under the PPP banner, in time to contest new general elections tentatively scheduled for December.

The PPP is expected to select right-wing politician and party outsider Samak Sundaravej as its nominal leader, marking a break from TRT's post-coup leadership under the soft-spoken, left-leaning former student activist Chaturon Chaisaeng. TRT fragmented badly under Chaturon's eight-month stewardship, where at least three key factional leaders and as many as 175 former parliamentarians ditched the party either to join political forces with the military or to strike out on their own.

Samak, 72, on the other hand, is a vintage old-style Thai politician, a tough-talking ultra-conservative with longtime links to the armed forces. Renowned for his fiery oratory in Parliament and popular among Bangkok's lower classes for his charisma and televised Thai-cooking program, Samak's appointment will signal a distinct move to the political right for the mass party. TRT-cum-PPP stalwarts are wagering that his veteran leadership will be able to hold the party's center and preserve its grassroots populist appeal while Thaksin is in exile.

Full Story: Asia Times Online

Thought: "There may be trouble ahead. But while there's music and moonlight and love and romance let's face the music and dance."