Further updated: Don’t ask The Dictator about his “elections”

During his U.S. visit, General Prayuth Chan-ocha got testy with reporters again.

In commenting on his meeting with President Donald Trump, The Dictator declared that he had, unprompted, promised Trump that “his government [the junta] will announce an election date next year.” He boasted: “Indeed it was me who initiated the discussion and assured him that Thailand will abide by its roadmap to return to democracy…”.

The thing is, the junta has not followed its roadmap. It has strung out holding its “election” time and again. So we wonder why anyone would believe him now.

But he went on: “Next year, we will definitely announce and election date…”. We highlighted the word used twice in the report: announce.

We are not at all sure what that means. Announcing an election and actually holding one are not the same.

Perhaps it was this obvious point that then caused The Dictator to lie:

“I did not mislead anyone or cover anything up,” he said referring to critics’ accusations that the junta was being ambiguous about the election time frame. “I have always reiterated [that the election will take place]. I don’t want anyone asking me about it anymore.”

While we don’t think a junta managed, monitored and devised election is anything much at all, Prayuth seems to be getting closer to the idea that he’ll decide to grant one, so long as he can ensure an outcome.

Bottom lime? Nothing new, but just don’t ask him.

Update 1: Someone did ask Deputy Dictator General Prawit Wongsuwan about an election date. He said “the election date would be set after a completion of the relevant organic laws plus 150 days for election preparations.” He “clarified” what The Dictator had meant: “It’s not that he said the election will be held next year… When the election date will be is up to the completion of the organic laws.” It seems what is promised is that an election date may be set in 2018.

Remarkably, a Joint Statement between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Thailand included this:

Recognizing Thailand’s strategic importance to the United States and the region, President Trump welcomed Thailand’s commitment to the Roadmap, which, upon completion of relevant organic laws as stipulated by the Constitution, will lead to free and fair elections in 2018.

We already know that any “election” will not be fair as the rules have been rigged. We can also surmise that any “election” is unlikely to be free. We can guess this from looking at the way the military dictatorship “managed” the referendum.

Update 2: As noted above, the joint statement did state “elections in 2018.” But just in case anyone was confused, the military dictatorship has reaffirmed that The Dictator “did not say the general election would be held next year…”. As we noted above, all that was promised by General Prayuth was that a date for an “election” would be announced in 2018. It may be that he an his entourage missed the statement’s bit on “elections” in the statement.

The linked report worries that Prayuth has “promised” Trump an “election,” and that it is reneging. What else is new? Such “promises”-cum-lies have been made several times before. The longer the junta can spin out its rule, the better as far as the regime is concerned.

What is clear is that the anti-democrats are urging the junta to delay elections. While the report refers to Suchit Bunbongkarn as a “political scientist,” he’s really a royalist and fascist-anti-democrat ideologue. He declares that “he was not sure if the public really wanted an early election because many people were not interested in elections.” He adds: “Some were concerned that the same politicians would return after the polls and the political mess that preceded the May 22, 2014 coup would happen all over again…”.

He’s a lying dipstick, fabricating views of the “public” and “many people” but clearly stating the anti-democratic notions that drive the royalists, anti-democrats and military. One can only wonder about the use of the word “early.” After all the military junta mumbled promises about an election within a year of its coup. By 2018, “early” mean somewhere from four to five years of the coup. “Early” for Suchit and his ilk will be “late” for many, even if the the “election” is rigged in their favor.

The regime needs little prompting from aristocrats, plutocrats and fascists. It seeks and even creates reasons for transitioning “promises” to lies. Even chatter about “disruption” to the cremation of the dead king or the coronation of the playboy king is elevated to a “plot” that suggests “unrest,” allowing another junta “excuse” for extending its dictatorship. The death of the queen would also allow more dictatorship.