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Published on August 25, 2007

So, it will be Samak Sundaravej, of all people. Yesterday's decision by the remaining politicians of the Thai Rak Thai party to make the long-lasting controversial maverick their new leader sums up the irony-fraught nature of Thai politics. Samak, whose name is heavily associated with the dictatorship and its bloody hands some three decades ago, something of which he is proud, has found an opportunity to add a new dimension to his reputation. He will now be on the opposite side of the machine guns and tanks. Gone are the days when troops in the military-dominated Dusit district marched like robots to vote for him on election days. Samak wants to be a freedom fighter now.

Whatever he really is, though, the military junta must not take the bait. Samak as the recipient of Thaksin's torch is not as important to the future course of the Kingdom as how the Council for National Security reacts to it. The Thai Rak Thai camp knows how to play the game, with Samak declaring he will fight for justice for Thaksin and showing contempt for the reasons he was ousted from power. If he is able to provoke the junta, it will be to the detriment of this country.

Whether one likes him or not, Samak has the right to do what he's doing, and, like them or not, the remaining members of Thai Rak Thai who were spared the party-dissolution penalty have the right to compete in the election. And, like it or not, people associated with Thaksin - his relatives, friends or business partners - have the right to support the People Power Party. Last but not least, whoever has faith in the party has the right to vote for it.

The new party has been buoyed by the considerable success of the vote "No" campaign against the charter draft, apparently interpreting the results as evidence of the lingering popularity of Thaksin and Thai Rak Thai. Right or wrong, the politicians and their supporters have the right to think that way and exploit the outcome politically. With the new constitution coming into effect, democratic games have begun, and anyone to whom the new charter gives the right to participate can definitely do so.

It is imperative that the junta re-examines and thoroughly understands its own agenda. The September 19 coup was condoned because of the junta's proclaimed intention to correct the massive corruption in Thai politics. That objective must not be confused with clamping down on anyone ever associated with the previous government. Legal charges against Thaksin and his alleged accomplices have been initiated, and their assets have been frozen. Therefore, anyone outside the dragnet - no matter what past connections they had with the previous regime - must be granted the same rights as any Thai citizen.

Current signs are not encouraging, especially reports suggesting senior provincial officials in the provinces that voted "No" could be blacklisted by the junta. Rumours about legal harassment have been intimidating the People Power Party. An old case of alleged corruption has also come back to haunt Samak.

He will face a bumpy road back to the limelight. During his political prime, Samak and the men in green virtually adored each other. He was notorious when press freedoms were concerned and became one of the few mainstream politicians who fared well in the wake of the October 6 Thammasat infamy in 1976. Now many of the "October 6 activists" in the People Power Party, who have grown to know that no ideology lasts forever, will be calling him "Boss". And before we know it he could be an honorary speaker at pro-democracy forums, probably at Thammasat University.

But the bottom line is that Thai politics is in need of positive irony, badly. And we should start with the military allowing Samak's party to function as freely as the others. Attempts to block or undermine the People Power Party will confirm what the junta's critics have been saying all along - that it's a dictatorship, not a group of well-intended generals who braved brickbats in order to put Thailand back on a healthier democratic path. There's a clear line between saviour and dictator, but, in case the junta is confused as to what it should and should not do, an easy trick is imagining what the Samak of 30 years ago would have loved or hated and going for the latter.