Thailand’s king has put his seal on a new constitution that opens the way to long-delayed elections but entrenches the authority of the ruling generals and monarchy.
Critics say any elections have already been neutered because the new constitution gives the military the means to control a successor government as part of a 20-year plan it has announced for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
Among its provisions, the charter makes parliament’s upper house fully appointed and gives the generals control of the process. Some seats are reserved directly for military officers and other security agency members.
After the ceremony, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, prime minister and leader of the 2014 coup against Thailand’s elected government, warned his administration would not permit any acts that would “lead to any disturbance or [harm] the atmosphere and good intentions of the Thai people”.
The signing event on the 235th anniversary of the establishment of the Chakri royal dynasty also highlighted the power of the new king. The palace had asked for changes to a draft constitution approved in a tightly controlled referendum in August.
The changes unveiled when the constitution was published in the Royal Gazette after the signing ceremony included the removal of a draft provision to give the constitutional court and other institutions more powers to deal with political troubles. The amendment underscores the traditional role of the king as arbiter in times of national crisis.
Another allows the king to travel outside the country without having to appoint a regent to rule on his behalf. King Vajiralongkorn has spent much time in the past few years in Germany, where his son is at school.
King Vajiralongkorn took the throne after the death in October of his father Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ruled for more than 70 years. Debate and reporting on the Thai monarchy is curbed by harsh lese-majeste laws that carry jail sentences of up to 15 years per offence.
The constitution also sets out a number of bureaucratic steps before elections can be held. They mean polls are unlikely to take place until the end of next year — and few would rule out further delays to a ballot originally promised by the end of 2015.
Thailand has been hobbled by a political power struggle since a 2006 coup — the 11th successful putsch since 1932 — against Thaksin Shinawatra, whose parties have won every election since 2001. The government of Mr Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, was toppled in the May 2014 military takeover, the latest skirmish in a fluctuating battle that has pitted the Shinawatras’ rural support base against the military-allied Bangkok elite.
The ruling junta, which has detained critics and stifled political debate, says it wants national reconciliation, but critics claim the generals’ efforts are empty and will not end a political malaise that has dragged on a once-booming export economy.
Thailand’s gross domestic product is expected to grow 3.5 per cent this year, lagging behind all its big Southeast Asian neighbours, according to a report issued on Thursday by the Asian Development Bank.
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