60 days way too short

Re: “60 days ‘long enough’ for campaigning”, ( BP, Nov 10).

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon insists that 60 days is enough for election campaigning after the ban on political activities is lifted.

If democracy is “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”, as Abraham Lincoln defined it, then 60 days is nowhere near enough for campaigning.

The junta’s ban is on all political activities, not just campaigning. Before a party can even come up with its platform, it must engage in many now-banned activities, for example, holding nationwide meetings of its membership to determine what they, the constituents, want from their party — especially since almost all parties are brand-new.

Members from one region may have different needs from their compatriots elsewhere.

These differences must be discussed at length and harmonised.

Even for old parties, constituent needs change as circumstances change, for example, a core plank for the US’s GOP has been free trade for decades, but Mr Trump has been hurling tariffs left, right, and centre.

Then, party delegates must meet and, through time-consuming negotiations, forge a party platform that defines who they are and why voters should select them above all others.

Only after they have a well-hashed-out platform appealing to a sufficiently wide segment of voters should parties go on the campaign path — and even so, 60 days isn’t enough for nationwide campaigns.

Thus, the junta should lift the ban on political activities now, empowering parties to accurately reflect their members’ well-hammered-out long-term needs and wants through extensive discussions, leading to stable constituencies who stay with their party through thick and thin, giving us a stable government.

BURIN KANTABUTRA