{"id":101084,"date":"2013-12-25T13:23:17","date_gmt":"2013-12-25T13:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/thailands-upcoming-sham-elections\/"},"modified":"2013-12-25T13:23:17","modified_gmt":"2013-12-25T13:23:17","slug":"thailands-upcoming-sham-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/thailands-upcoming-sham-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand\u2019s Upcoming Sham \u201cElections\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like tyrants throughout history, Thaksin will use \u201celections\u201d to lend himself legitimacy he otherwise doesn’t have. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Elections alone do not make any given regime legitimate. Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, held regular elections \u2014 of course, Hussein was the only viable candidate running and easily was returned to power, time and time again (See BBC’s \u201cSaddam \u2018wins 100% of vote<\/a>\u2018\u201d). He enjoyed immense popularity especially as he stood up against the unwarranted aggression of the United States, however no one would describe his government as particularly \u201cdemocratic.\u201d Of course, the West had no problems saying so. <\/span><\/em>

A similar tale can be told of North Korea’s elections \u2014 with its one-party government enjoying \u201clandslide victories\u201d as reported in the Telegraph’s \u201cElections declared a success in one party North Korea<\/a>.\u201d Similarly, the West has no problem making a mockery of the process <\/span><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

Image: In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to vote (or even drive for that matter). Despite this gross injustice, the autocratic feudal regime is one of the West’s closest allies and exists in a media black-hole of immunity and self-censorship. This reveals that what is considered \u201cacceptable\u201d and \u201cunacceptable\u201d by international standards is solely based on Western <\/span>interest – not objective, impartial principles. The West’s backing of upcoming sham \u201celections\u201d in Thailand, where only one main party is running and the top three candidates are all from the same family (Thaksin Shinawatra, sister Yingluck Shinawatra, and brother-in-law <\/span>Somchai Wongsawa) is another display of double standards and the convenient circumvention of the rule of law. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026.<\/p>\n

\nIn contrast, the feudal kingdom of Saudi Arabia also has \u201celections.\u201d Half of its population is currently barred from voting (<\/span>it is illegal for women to vote<\/a>), and elections are only held for municipal positions. That is because there are no elections for national leadership as Saudi Arabia is one of the last remaining absolute monarchs in the world. Strangely enough, despite the barbarism, exclusion, and absolute illegitimacy of the Saudi regime, it is not only accepted with open arms by the West, but is a respected and central collaborator of Western interests in the Middle East and indeed, around the world.<\/p>\n

The BBC would shamelessly call Saudi Arabia \u201ccautious reformers<\/a>\u201d because of their decision to consider allowing women to vote in 2015. There is still no word on whether or not they’ll be allowed to drive, and of course, the vitriol and condemnation the BBC has reserved for nations like Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Syria, is absent in regards to Saudi Arabia \u2014 a nation so despotic it is literally named after the family that has squatted upon it for decades.<\/p>\n

Clearly then, the West who fashions itself the arbiters of what is and isn’t universally \u201cdemocratic\u201d and \u201clegitimate,\u201d bases it judgement not on what is actually democratic or legitimate, but upon a particular nation’s utility and capitation to Western interests. Iraq and North Korea are decidedly opposed to capitulating to the West’s \u201cinternational order\u201d while the feudal barbaric regime of Saudi Arabia is a willing, eager participant.<\/p>\n

Thailand’s Current Regime, like Saudi Arabia, is a willing Collaborator \u2014 Enjoys West’s Stamp of Approval<\/p>\n

The current regime ruling over Thailand, led indisputably by unelected dictator, convicted criminal, fugitive, mass murder, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, has for well over a decade been willing collaborators with Western interests. From before becoming prime minister in 2001, and throughout his 2001-2006 rule in office, up to and including today, Thaksin Shinawatra and his political machine have demonstrably served foreign interests, as well as their own, at great and continuous expense of the Thai people. <\/span><\/p>\n

A rough enumeration of Thaksin Shinawatra’s transgressions against Thailand, as well as his associations with the West, paints the picture of a murderous despot, but one, like the Sauds, who has faithfully served Western interests and earned their stamp of approval along with an accompanying immunity from criticism or punitive sanctions: <\/span><\/p>\n