Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A few questions on notice for Abhisit

1. Why is Kasit still foreign minister? You say you want to promote reconciliation and unity, but how can that be possible when you continue to defend such a divisive foreign minister who actively supported the PAD and even said the airport protests were fun despite the fact that they caused so much ongoing hardship?

2. You have drawn a line between what Kasit said before he was a minister and what he says after, but when Jakrapob was under pressure for what he said before he was a minister, you called on him to resign, saying his "resignation would help reduce tension and division in the country".
Why do you now have a different standard?

3. You say the monarchy needs to be placed above all forms of political conflict, and your government is zealously blocking many legitimate websites and pursuing farcical lese majeste cases against Thais and foreigners, including journalists and academics.
What is your response to those that say such a strategy is actually dragging the monarchy into politics, and the lese majeste laws need to be amended so that they can no longer be used as a political tool?

That's just a start - please add more
(keep it sensible and realistic, otherwise it's a waste of our time)

UPDATE:
I am not a journalist, but I have tried to frame the above questions in a way that reduces the wriggle room for skilled politicians.

I would be interested in what people think the expected responses would be.

Q1 & Q2 don't leave much wriggle room IMO, but I suppose on Q3 we might just get the usual 'thats what the thai people want' or 'you don't understand thainess' thrown back at us.
I suppose I would then counter with: Do you really think the thai people want lese majeste laws used as a political tool, and the monarchy dragged into politics?