He says law bars royals from runs for elected office
BANGKOK — Thailand’s chaotic politics took two astonishing turns Friday when the sister of the king made a historic bid to become prime minister, only to have him shut down her effort as “inappropriate” because it violated tradition and the constitution, which keep the monarchy from getting involved in politics.
The royal order from King Maha Vajiralongkorn was read on national television late Friday night, effectively scuttling the move by his older sister, Princess Ubolratana Mahidol, to become a candidate for the prime minister’s office after parliamentary elections scheduled for March 24.
It was the latest event to roil Thailand, the site of coups, political comebacks and street violence for more than a decade.
Ubolratana’s registration as a candidate was a stunning move, not only because it would have broken a taboo on a senior royal running for public office, but because it would have allied her with the Thai Raksa Chart Party, considered by many royalists to be unsympathetic to the monarchy.
It is one of several parties linked to the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire who roared to power in 2001 with populist policies that made him practically unbeatable. The army ousted him from the prime minister’s office in a 2006 coup.
The turnaround in Ubolratana’s fortunes was also startling because the siblings are thought to be close, and it was considered unthinkable that Ubolratana would make her move without her brother’s permission. What happened behind the scenes is unlikely to become public, because the Thai royal family’s pri- vate affairs are almost never leaked.
Vajiralongkorn tried to soften the blow by acknowledging that his 67-year-old sister has already relinquished her formal royal titles.
But his order stressed that Thailand’s constitution insists that the king and those around him stay above politics, and the principles of democratic government also put politics off-limits.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha is considered to be indelibly loyal to the monarchy. He led the 2014 military coup that ousted Thailand’s last elected government, which had been backed by Thaksin.
Thailand has a draconian law that punishes defamation of the immediate royal family with up to 15 years in prison. While it does not technically apply to Ubolratana, who lost her highest royal titles when she married an American more than four decades ago, its scope has been widened in recent years to almost anything that sullies the royal institution.