Thai junta's powers grow despite end of martial law

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 2 Απριλίου 2015 - 05:37

Thailand's military rulers have finally lifted martial law - but have run into a blizzard of attacks over even more sweeping powers imposed in its place.

Critics have denounced the change as a deception that entrenches the generals' control by replacing defined if draconian rules with near-limitless authority to detain, censor and intervene in government.

An outpouring of scorn and foreboding over the move on social media on Thursday highlighted the darkening mood of Thailand's political crisis, in which the military proclaims its benevolence while progressively tightening its grip.

"Who did #ThaiJunta think they were fooling, lifting martial law and replacing it with a blank check for dictatorship?" tweeted Kaewmala, an online social commentator.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief turned prime minister, scrapped martial law on Wednesday, more than 10 months after imposing it unilaterally in the run-up to ousting the elected government in May.

The junta had come under heavy pressure from civil liberties campaigners and businesses to make the change, on the grounds that martial law was repressive, frightened foreign visitors away and forced up insurance premiums for tourists.

But the generals immediately activated a handy ready-made replacement: article 44 of the interim constitution they imposed post-coup, which gives Gen Prayuth almost unchecked powers of detention and decision-making as well as immunity from legal challenge to his actions.

The near-infinite latitude offered by article 44 moved some people on Twitter to riff on its symbolic parallels to the number 42, which is said to be the meaning of life in the cult comic science fiction series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"#44 - Answer to Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything," tweeted Arthit Suriyawongkul, an internet activist.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based campaign group, condemned the junta's legal "sleight of hand" as another sign of Thailand's "deepening descent into dictatorship". Gen Prayuth has said article 44 will be used "constructively", adding that those who have done nothing wrong have no reason to fear it.

The removal of martial law is unlikely to have much impact on daily life in Thailand, which has been calm since the coup ended more than six months of anti-government street protests that some say were always aimed at provoking military intervention.

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> Critics say the military and its allies in the urban elite are now trying to gerrymander the electoral system to disempower millions of rural voters who have delivered every election since 2001 to parties led by or loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, a plutocrat turned prime minister who outflanked the country's established order.

While the junta tolerates some criticism and even mockery, Gen Prayuth mixes cajoling and bonhomie with unnerving observations. Last week, the government sought to play down comments in which he said he would "execute" journalists who failed to report the truth.

The generals have temporarily detained many critics and growing numbers of people are being prosecuted for lese majesty, including a businessman imprisoned for 25 years this week for unspecified insults against the monarchy.

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