The Democrat Party is widely known to have doubts about democracy, to have trashed parliament, to have supported anti-democratic movements and to be loyal to the Army and palace. How it came up with its name is anyone’s guess. Why it keeps it is an even bigger mystery.
When its deputy leader Pinit Intarasombat – we think this is Nipit (นายนิพิฏฐ์ อินทรสมบัติ) – is quoted at Khaosod as having “thrown his support behind a military-dominated National Legislative Assembly…”, it is easier to understand just how anti-democratic the Democrat Party is. Why is Nipit so keen on the military dictatorship? He tells us:
“There has to be a guarantee that they can control the majority in the Assembly,” said , referring to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which seized power in a coup d’état on 22 May.
“The government has to be confident that it has a majority [in the Parliament],” he said. “If the NCPO cannot control the majority, the methods of reforms will not be achieved.”
He was commenting on “reports that at least half of the National Assembly seats in the interim government will be filled by military officers loyal to the NCPO.” He said he couldn’t give a shit about democracy, didn’t worry about “the persons [in the upcoming appointed National Assembly]…. I am concerned with how they will reform the country. I will evaluate them based on the interim charter and their policies in terms of reform.”
What he means is that he, as a card-carrying supporter of the anti-democratic People’s Alliance for Democracy, is happy for the military to be returning power to the royalist establishment. “Reform” is a term to describe the rolling back of democracy in favor of fascist institutions and control.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 