THE KING SAYS, IT'S A MESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002425

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TH
SUBJECT: THE KING SAYS, IT'S A MESS

REF: A. BANGKOK 02370

B. BANGKOK 01872

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Alex A. Arvizu reason 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: King Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday gave two
of the most direct and to-the-point speeches in recent years
to the newly sworn-in judges of the Administrative and
Supreme Courts. In these speeches, the King questioned the
democratic nature of the April 2 general elections as well as
the "correctness" of dissolving Parliament and calling for
snap elections in the first place. He reminded the
Administrative Court that it is their job to consider these
issues, and opened the possibility of nullifying the
elections. He further asserted that invoking Article 7 of
the Constitution to have the royally-appointed Prime Minister
would be undemocratic, The King therefore called on the
courts and other institutions to work together to resolve the
current political chaos. Top justices at the three high
courts (Supreme, Administrative and Constitutional) will meet
on Friday to propose a way "out of the woods." Opposition
forces are chastened by the King's strong rejection of their
call for him to name the next Prime Minister, but welcome
some of the criticisms of the election process. End Summary.


DOOR CREEPS OPEN FOR NULLIFYING THE ELECTION
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2. (U) In his first speech of the night to the judges of the
Administrative Court, the King asserted that "it is
impossible for a democratic election to have only one party
and one candidate. This is undemocratic." He further
questioned why no one discussed whether dissolving the
Parliament and calling for a snap election within thirty days
was the "correct" decision in the first place. If not, he
suggested, one would need to "solve the problem," including
"perhaps nullifying the elections."


ENOUGH WITH THE HOT POTATOES ALREADY!
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3. (SBU) The King warned the Administrative Court that it
should not evade its responsibilities. If "you cannot do it,
then it should be you who resign, not the government, for
failing to perform your duties." (Comment: The appears to be
a dig at the decisions by several courts to duck tough cases
connected to the election by saying that they lack
jurisdiction over the issues. End comment.)


4. (U) The King also spoke to the new members of the Supreme
Court, delivering a similar message. In both speeches the
King expressed his strong disagreement with the opposition's
call to invoke Article 7 of the Constitution. The King
stated that electing the new Prime Minister (PM) should be up
to Parliament. He told the Supreme Court that he disagreed
with opening the House unless all 500 MP seats are filled.
"Now, the House of Representatives cannot function because it
does not have 500 members." The problem is how to make the
House work." He then explained that the opposition is "wrong
to cite Article 7," as the "article refers to the full effect
of the constitutional monarchy. It does not permit the king
to do whatever he wishes." And by doing so he would
"overstep his mark, and do something beyond his authority."
And "that's not democracy."


COURTS MUST WORK TOGETHER TO CLEAN UP THE MESS
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5. (U) The King stressed that the current political state is
quite a "mess," and that for him to intervene would only make
it messier. He called on the three courts (Constitutional,
Administrative, and Supreme Courts) to work together to
"urgently decide, otherwise the country would collapse." Top
judges of these three courts announced today that they will
meet for discussions this Friday. The Supreme Court
secretary-general said that the Supreme Court justices will

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seek common ground among themselves during a meeting on
Thursday, before submitting their joint opinion to the
combined meeting. He said that the justices intend to
provide an solution to lead the country "out of the woods."

ONE BIG SLAP
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6. (C) One Democrat party contact said, "off the record"
that the King's speech was a slap in the face to all the

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political players. "It's like the King lined us up and got
us all with one big slap," he said. Now each side will try
to pick out the elements in the speech favorable to its
position. For the opposition, they will appreciate the
criticism of the undemocratic nature of the elections, and
the implied criticism of the decision to dissolve Parliament
in the first place. For Thai Rak Thai, they can highlight
the rebuke to the opposition for trying to FORCE the King to
name a new prime minister. They may also say that it was the
opposition's fault, with their boycott, that TRT was the
only party contesting. Regarding the question of annulling
the election, the Democrat representative said, the party was
now in a quandary. They had called for the elections to be
annulled with the idea that the King would name an interim
Prime Minister. If the elections are annulled and the King
won't name a PM, then it is unclear what would happen next.
He still clung to the hope that the King might yet accept the
responsibility if the meeting on Friday of the three courts'
justices resulted in a request from them for him to do so.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) issued a statement
saying that they would accept the King's view and seek
constitutional solutions to the crisis. Opposition parties
were meeting Wednesday to come up with a formal reaction to
the speech.

BINGO
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8. (C) Meanwhile, the Election Commission may have resolved
the quorum problem. It appears that microparty candidates
have registered for all the remaining 14 races in the South.
It is not clear whether all of them are qualified, but with
only two days until the elections, it will be difficult to
push through disqualifications. This means that these 14
seats should be filled -- perhaps by these Lilliputian
opponents. This still leaves the parliament one person
short, as one of the party list candidates on the TRT list
withdrew from the race and became a monk. According to some
sources, however, the EC may argue that he is still
technically on the TRT list and that his withdrawal was not
valid. Whether he leaves the monastery to come to the
Parliament or not, they may certify his election.

COMMENT: ANOTHER FINE MESS YOU'VE GOTTEN US INTO
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8. (C) The King's statements have tossed everything up in
the air, and it will be a few days before we see where they
come down. Press coverage has tended to focus on the King's
refusal to be dragged into naming a prime minister, but that
was not news to us. (ref B) His very strong statements
opening his remarks at the Administrative Court, and his
directive to the judges to come up with a solution, were more
startling. It is hard to imagine the courts really deciding
that these elections should be annulled, and even harder to
imagine exactly what would follow to fill the vacuum this
would create. TRT may try to seize on the King's insistence
on full quorum, which now looks like it might be achievable,
and ignore the rest of his criticisms. Unlike the
Constitutional Court however, (with its track record of
deferring to the Prime Minister),the Supreme and
Administrative Courts generally enjoy a good reputation.
With the King's imprimatur to find a solution, they may feel
empowered to propose a bold plan to sort out this extremely
messy situation. They have a tough job to do.
ARVIZU