Thailand’s king signs constitution and puts country on path to polls

THAILAND - Thailand’s king has signed a new military-backed constitution that strengthens the army’s hand in government and puts the country on the path to an election after three years of junta rule. The military says the charter, Thailand’s 20th since 1932, will curb unrest in the politically split kingdom and keep out corrupt lawmakers.

But opponents say the document means any polls, whose date keeps slipping, will only offer Thais a form of neutered democracy with a fully appointed senate and tough controls on elected politicians. King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who ascended the throne after the death of his widely revered father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, last October, signed the document in a televised ceremony in Bangkok on Thursday. In a pomp-filled ceremony, the king bestowed the signed charter to Thailand’s junta chief in an ornate throne hall filled with foreign dignitaries and political grandees dressed in white. Vajiralongkorn surprised many this year by ordering rewrites to parts of the charter that deal with his powers. But in a sign of the opacity surrounding all things royal in Thailand, authorities have yet to release the wording of those new sections. Thailand has stumbled through more than a decade of political instability that has hampered growth in what was once one of the region’s fastest-growing economies. In a period known as “the lost decade” Thais witnessed repeated rounds of deadly protests, a string of shortlived governments and two military coups.

(TheGuardian.com)