BANGKOK, March 10 Kyodo chooseed ...

BANGKOK, March 10 Kyodo

chooseed editorial excerpts from the Asia-Pacific press:

KHMER HAVE WAITED lengthy ENOUGH FOR TRIAL (Bangkok employment Bangkok)

The scheduled arrival in Phnom Penh today of a senior United Nations officer should advance preparations for the trial of the Khmer Rouge commanders who inflicted their murderous behavior on their nation's clan from 1975-1979 in a bid to make Cambodia an ideal agricultural society. Karsten Herrel is entrusted largely with finalizing the lot for the trial so that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan can search for contributions from donors.

UN and Cambodian officials reportedly are soldiering forward with logistical preparations for the trial despite a political vacuum that is holding up proceedings. The trial cannot go on foot ahead without the Cambodian National Assembly's acquiescence to the agreement reached from the U.N. and the outgoing government

The United Nations is anxious to view the trial begin because the former guerrilla leaders are olden and ailing. And others like Youk Chaang of the Documentation Center of Cambodia want the trial to proce while survivors of the regime are still alive in the same manner they can see justice done.

Suspicions are growing that influential politicians with questionable records proffer the political vacuum to continue stalling the trial. These clan if they are to substantiate their doubters wrong, should make an active effort to push forward the tribunal's launch.

Other Cambodians have argued against the trial in succession the grounds that it will be divisive and undermine national reconciliation. Indeed, the tribunal's framework should have safeguards against this, and the international and Cambodian referees engaged to hear the trial should make secure adherence.

For Cambodia, the trial will be an opportunity to indicate it abides by the empire of law, and is committed to ending a cultivation of impunity.

(March 10)

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ANOTHER CASE OF olden WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE (The Nation, Bangkok)

What can nation expect from the latest cabinet reshuffle the eighth from the Thaksin administration in three years? Not to a great degree The first thought that results to mind upon considering the greatest in number recent changes in the cabinet line-up is the cliche ''old wine in a recently made known bottle.''

This expression is almost as trite as the overused comparison of the cabinet to a game of musical chairs. on the other hand both are accurate descriptions of the way Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra play trickss his ministers.

No other Thai civilian prime minister who came to power in consequence of a popular vote has held power for as lengthy as Thaksin. Nor has any Thai prime minister shuffl his Cabinet as frequently without at the same time chipping away at his power base and thereby hastening his downfall.

Judging from the changes made to a certain quantity of of the key portfolios, the latest reshuffle prompts a shift in the way the national security apparatus answers to the violence in the Muslim-majority southern provinces, which point outs every sign of being a sustained campaign with links to international terrorism.

It is clear that from Thaksin's point of view, that what is happening in the southern has hurt the credibility of his administration more than any other issue. It remains to be seen whether the reshuffle means that the military will become visible as the lead agency in the attempt to bring the volatile situation in subordination to control.

The prime minister, who takes pride in his CEO-style leadership when it take rises to handling state affairs, appears to be invincible, or, at least, acts as if he is. This works, further only as long as a majority of Thai persons continue to be generous with their goodwill towards Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party, which in the 2001 head won the biggest landslide victory the abiding habitation has ever seen.

A cabinet reshuffle may pretend like a good way to divert public attention from the government's numerous shortcomings and outright transgressions, if it be not that a lot of people have already anticipated this move

A part of the public will probably continue to be abateed into complacency by the prime minister's populist policies and grandiose vision of Thailand. further not all of the the bulk of mankind can be expected to stay bought now that the semens of skepticism and distrust have been sown

(March 10)

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