“Corruption is the issue”—Democrat Party

(March 2, 2006 / Bangkok, Thailand) Democrat Party of Thailand Director for International Affairs, Mr. Isra Sunthornvut, today explained the Democrat Party’s decision to boycott the elections called by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra.

In a meeting today with John Coronel, Executive Director of CALD, Mr. Isra Sunthornvut clarified why the Democrat Party chose to boycott the April 2 snap elections.

Mr. Isra Sunthornvut stated that arriving at the decision was a painful process for the party. Participating in the elections would have presented an opportunity for the Democrats which would certainly increase its number of seats in parliament.  But in the end they decided on this option because the corruption charges against Thaksin were the issue and this issue was not going to be solved through elections. Ideals and principles must prevail over pragmatic considerations.

Mr. Thaksin is accused of tax evasion resulting from the1.9 billion dollar sale of his family firm Shin Corp to a Singaporean consortium. “When someone buys a cone of ice cream in Thailand, he pays taxes, why should he be different?” Mr. Isra Sunthornvut argued.

Mass demonstrations in Bangkok called for Mr. Thaksin to step down. The decision to boycott the elections was supported by the two other opposition parties that have seats in parliament.

Categorised in: News Article

This post was written by CALD