Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
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64 KPI Congress XI<br />
influential person were prosecuted on corruption charges <strong>and</strong> sentenced<br />
to imprisonment under the frameworks <strong>of</strong> the 1997 Constitution.<br />
The outcome <strong>of</strong> political conflicts that culminated in protests<br />
against populist policies <strong>of</strong> Thaksin’s administration <strong>and</strong> opposition<br />
against Pol.Col. Thaksin <strong>and</strong> political parties linked to him has<br />
exacerbated <strong>and</strong> turned into numerous violent protests has convinced a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> middle-class people to renounce the democratic parliamentary<br />
system under one man, one vote principle which applies to election <strong>of</strong><br />
members <strong>of</strong> parliament <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> an increased number <strong>of</strong> appointed<br />
MPs <strong>and</strong> senators. However, this proposal seems to wither away because<br />
more <strong>and</strong> more people oppose this idea. I hope my speech today may<br />
help shed light on this matter.<br />
Once we can agree <strong>and</strong> decide that we should uphold a universal<br />
democratic parliamentary system, we will be able to find ways to make<br />
this system function effectively in Thail<strong>and</strong>.<br />
However, we must keep two things in mind. First, we cannot<br />
possibly shape up democracy overnight but we have to go through the<br />
process <strong>of</strong> learning by doing <strong>and</strong> apply our cumulative learning from<br />
experiences to improve basic institutions along the way. It may be done<br />
through trial <strong>and</strong> error. That’s alright. Continuity <strong>of</strong> the system is critical<br />
in this respect because it has positive reinforcement on the process <strong>of</strong><br />
learning by doing. Therefore, we must make the best effort to prevent a<br />
military coup.<br />
We must have an acceptable fair society, so we can have a peaceful<br />
society. A political system that consists <strong>of</strong> a parliamentary system <strong>and</strong><br />
constitution that guarantees basic rights <strong>and</strong> liberties <strong>and</strong> sets out rules <strong>of</strong><br />
political gambits will provide us the best opportunities to achieve this<br />
goal.