A moment of truth for a reluctant Samak

Thailand's political entanglement just keeps getting better and better. The Foreign Ministry, for very solid reasons, now wants Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to spearhead Thailand's efforts to bring Thaksin Shinawatra home to face corruption charges. Yes, just when we thought the whole thing couldn't get more ironic.

And the judiciary doesn't help as far as Samak is concerned. The Supreme Court's Criminal Tribunal for Political Office Holders has announced it will hand down a ruling on the Ratchadaphisek land case about a month from now. If Thaksin and his wife Pojaman are found guilty, pressure will grow immensely on the man who declared himself to be the ousted leader's nominee before the last election.

One of last week's major political stories had to do with members of the People Power Party getting increasingly sceptical about Samak's "loyalty" to Thaksin. They were upset that the prime minister allowed the police to put up arrest warrants for Thaksin and Pojaman "all over the place". Their resentment has fuelled speculation that the People Power Party is breaking up into a hardcore pro-Thaksin camp and a more "flexible" contingent capable of practically stabbing the master in the back.

Although Samak is believed to be drifting away from Thaksin, the thought of him signing an extradition request and submitting it to England remains an unlikely scenario no matter what side you are on. And nobody can describe it better than the prime minister himself, who has virtually blamed Thaksin's cases on rigid constitutional rules and questioned the judicial process applied against the former first couple.

How Samak tries to get out of this no-win situation is worth watching.

Rejecting the Foreign Ministry's request would mean undermining his own country's judiciary. It would mean not doing his job. Ambivalence and division on the Thai side would strengthen Thaksin's fight for exile or asylum. Charges of malfeasance and impeachment would loom for Samak.

If the prime minister signs an extradition request, the People Power Party would respond with an uproar, most likely to be followed by a rebellion. He would become completely estranged from his alleged "master". Worse still, even if he did lead the extradition campaign, it would not be appreciated by the People's Alliance for Democracy or the anti-Thaksin movement. He would be doing "the right thing" for nothing.

So far, Samak has seemingly thrived on being the bad boy in the opinion of everyone. Fears that the "next Thaksin nominee" could be "worse" than Samak have made the anti-Thaksin movement reluctant to throw everything at him. On the other hand, a semblance of support for Samak from the military and other key institutions has been considered an asset in the eyes of the pro-Thaksin camp. Somehow, Samak has been a man who is hard to live with, and difficult to live without.

But like everyone else involved in this long-standing crisis, Samak's luck can only hold so far. His moment of truth is rolling relentlessly toward him. The Foreign Ministry's request will make Samak choose sides, something he unequivocally did during the election campaign, but his position since then has been complicated by the call of duty and a personal agenda.

One of the most outspoken politicians Thailand has ever had, Samak will require the speech of his life to defend his decision on the Foreign Ministry's request, whatever it will be. So far we have only heard expedient talk from him, and we will probably not hear him speak his conscience when he explains his decision. Nonetheless, it will be spectacular, whether or not it will also be his swansong.

But he cannot complain. This whole crisis is about doing your job and not about wearing two colliding hats. To Thailand's detriment, many key figures have served wrong purposes because they got their duties all mixed up - the revenue authorities, the former election commissioners, the anti-money laundering officials, Thaksin himself, to name just a few. Samak is simply facing the fundamental question underlying this whole mess: whom does he serve?