EC commissioner on vote buying
In the Bangkok Post (28 September 2009: “EC: Vote buying unique to Thailand”) reports that Election Commission (EC) chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said that “Thailand is probably the only country in the world where politicians openly buy votes…”. The Nation has a slightly different version, suggesting that “Thailand is one of the few countries where votebuying is still widespread…”.
If the Post version is right, then the commissioner is wrong. Here are some examples based on a quick internet search, not all finally proven, from the U.S., and here, Taiwan, Afghanistan (obviously Apichart doesn’t watch international television), Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and there are quite a few more.
Okay, big deal, he got it wrong. But shouldn’t Apichart know? After all, there have been debates in Thailand about vote buying, whether it decreased or was transformed under Thaksin Shinawatra, and so on. Even if The Nation version is correct, shouldn’t Apichart be more aware of what other jurisdictions do about vote buying? Thailand is not unique.
Or is he just saying that the next election is already shaping up as a massive vote buying spree?
On this, see our recent posts on corruption which are suggestive of links between developing procurement scams, current funding to villages from coalition parties, and the preparation of war chests for an election, even if that is some months off.
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