Thailand’s Neutral Democratic Party And Electoral Fraud
THE Croydonian looks at political life in Thailand, and finds similarities with life over here:
Faced with the issue of electoral fraud, the leaders of some six Thai political parties – including what look to be the two main ones – “in the presence of Election Commission officials, took an oath at Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha not to commit electoral fraud….”EC officials also vowed before the Emerald Buddha that they would organise the election in a fair manner“.
It looks as though virtue for its own sake is not enough, as “They read the vow that if they conformed to their oath, they would live a peaceful life, otherwise they would meet with downfall“.
Perhaps our process would benefit from something similar, given that in March it was reported “Britain could be the first western democracy to face monitoring over vote-rigging and electoral fraud, Guardian Unlimited has learned. A European human rights watchdog is considering plans to scrutinise the UK’s council and regional government elections this May following concerns over vote tampering and postal ballots“. Source
Further digging makes it appear that Thailand has the world’s dullest name for a political party – the Neutral Democratic Party. The Thai – ‘Matchima’ – sounds rather better.
Or the LibDems…
Posted: 15th, November 2007 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
