The anti-government demonstrations led by the Democrat Party’s Suthep Thaugsuban have made it clear that they stand for some kind of politics that will “cleanse” the system and rely less on elections.
Of course, everyone knows why this is: the Democrat Party has been unable to win an election. As they explain themselves now, at the New York Times:
“We cannot beat them,” said Theptai Seanapong, one of the members of Parliament [from the Democrat Party] who resigned on Sunday….
Sathit Wongnongtoey, one of the protest leaders and a former member of Parliament for the Democrat Party, said on Monday that he feared there would be “cheating” in the election if the government carried on as caretakers, as the Constitution stipulates.
“And they will return to power,” Mr. Sathit said. “We cannot allow that to happen.”
In the 2011 election, most of the cheating was by groups associated with the Democrat Party. But readers can see Sathit’s plan: no pro-Thaksin party can be allowed to win another election.
Meanwhile, one of the main strategic allies of Suthep Thaugsuban has been the Council of University Presidents of Thailand.
CUPT vice president Chalermchai Boonyaleepun states:
“After the general election (on Feb 2), no matter which political party wins it will form a new government and will later use the ‘majority vote’ as an excuse to run the country the way it wants, and its opponents will start to fight back,” Mr Chalermchai said on Tuesday.
“The political situation will be back to square one because elections do not tell us about the goodness or the legitimacy of a party. We should discuss this problem first,” Mr Chalermchai said.
Clearly, if this lot grab power, advised by extremist yellow-shirted “academics,” one of the things they plan is to vet political parties, and you can bet which will be “good” and “legitimate.” It looks like a plan to ban any pro-Thaksin party. That would certainly stop them winning.
On the notion of a “people’s council”:
Piyabut Saengkanokkul, [a]… Nitirat member, [said]… that the PDRC’s proposal for a People’s Council shares worrying similarities with the fascist People’s Assembly set up by former Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini, which he said was instrumental in leading Italy into a totalitarian dictatorship.
Chillingly the process of “cleansing” Thai politics promises a fascism not dissimilar to the royalist government under Thanin Kraivixien.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 
[…] PPT posted on how the so-called Council of University Presidents had been captured by royalists and ultra-royalists. Some “academics” also got involved with the anti-democrats as speakers and leaders, often reproducing misogynist rants. Not all academics are anti-democrats, but like academic medical departments, many university leaderships have been taken over by anti-democratic royalists. […]
[…] PPT posted on how the so-called Council of University Presidents had been captured by royalists and ultra-royalists. Some “academics” also got involved with the anti-democrats as speakers and leaders, often reproducing misogynist rants. Not all academics are anti-democrats, but like academic medical departments, many university leaderships have been taken over by anti-democratic royalists. […]