The Nero of Siam

Grounded by the mob of Siam

The rule of the mob has brought Siam down to a standstill because a minority of the privileged could not bear to countenance the idea of the poor majority voting for their government in elections that were supervised by the military.

Now one cannot say that the reincarnations of the recently disbanded ruling party engineered their victories with activities that were above board, but they seemed to be the ones that exploited the populist notion of addressing matters that affect the poor.

The poor of Siam have been sensitised to their democratic privileges and it is unlikely that any party would win elections without engaging the poor and the party that wins would almost always have some sort of link to the parties that the opposition have challenged.

Celebrating amidst turmoil

Meanwhile, the highly revered Nero of Siam who has tacitly allowed the military to overrun democratic choices in a coup 2 years ago and in whose name the anti-government protesters constituted into a mob to destabilise the country and who's justices have abrogated a democratic mandate played the fiddle of attending ceremonies in commemoration of his birthday with his country teetering on the brink of collapse.

This kind of self-preservation of aristocratic privilege in the hope that the institution would endure because of seeming aloofness, reverence, respect as well as the archaic lèse majesté laws, can only serve to create the means by which that institution would collapse and self-destruct.

Lessons of history

The absolute monarchies of Germany, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian empires did not see through the first two decades of the 20^th Century because they did not adapt to support the voice of their masses – I am no prophet, but humanity just seems to have a way of failing to learn the lessons of history and tends to allow history to repeat itself.

It is unlikely that there would be a Yekaterinburg¹ in Siam, but one did live out his life in Huis Doorn².

Nothing can happen between the king and I, but like Nero fiddled when Rome burned, what is left to say is etcetera, etcetera and etcetera.

Footnotes

¹ Where the House of Romanov was murdered by the Communists

² Where Kaiser Wilhelm II the last monarch of Prussia spent his last days in exile in the Netherlands

Nigeria: A very welcome reprieve

Ambassadors at work

I am pleased to write this blog today as news reaches me that 29 condemned Nigerians [1] in Thailand and Afghanistan have been reprieved.

In this vein, I must congratulate the Nigerian official representations in those countries for the laudable activity in compassionate diplomacy that is beginning to give value, concern and dignity to the lives of Nigerians with a burden of criminality.

This development is heartening because it begins to show the world that we would not allow Nigerians to be sacrificed as severe punishment fodder and consequently the scapegoats for deterrence to other nationalities.

Every Nigerian must have a right to life regardless of where they are and what offence they might have committed - every attempt must be made to ensure that Nigerian rights are protected, defended and respected in both a judicial sense and to some extent in a show of humanitarian compassion where legal process has been exhausted.

Commuted to serve at home

Just over a month ago, 2 Nigerians were executed for trafficking heroin and it appeared not enough had been done to ensure that they were not poster advertisements to commemorate [2] the UN anti-Drugs Day 2008.

In having had these sentences commuted, they would all be deported to Nigeria where they are supposed to serve out their sentences.

I cannot say that the conditions in Nigerian prisons would be better than those of the countries in which they committed their crimes, but being alive and not under the sentence of a possibly gruesome death is probably the beginning of rehabilitation.

There is however much more to do in this matter, countries like Indonesia [3], Singapore [4] and Saudi Arabia [5] butcher our countrymen like cattle within their at times questionable judicial systems, there must be an end to this.

The dangers of irregular migration

I am quite interested in the root cause analysis that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in embarking on which is to highlight the dangers of irregular migration [6] which leads to avoidable deaths [7] in the treacherous waters that separate Africa from Europe.

Obviously, people who embark on such escapades have the compelling impression that there is a better life and a world of opportunities in the lands they seek to reach.

The causes of irregular migration

This means that the work of the government, business leaders and political representation must be geared to make Nigeria a viable place to keep its human resources and talent such that those dreamy faraway places where money appears to fall off trees becomes less attractive to adventurous sojourns.

The other issue is the hedonistic tendency to the ostentatious display of wealth as a confirmation of status in society; there is no doubt that this practice is primitive and uncouth – it sets the worst examples of aspiration amongst the youth in conditions and communities that desperately eke out an existence in dire situations.

Curtailing the inducements

Whilst one cannot legislate against hedonism, we need to work towards ensuring that anyone who intends to put up a show of wealth must also have clearly audited and legal sources of the same; failing which, all that wealth should be confiscated and put to use within the communities they intend to show off to.

In any case, the reprieve is the greater news of this blog, but the fact is, if we are to persuade more countries not to shoot up more Nigerians for whatever crimes; taking capital punishment off our law books would be a good start for negotiations.

Sources

[1] The Punch: 29 condemned Nigerians in Thailand, Afghanistan get reprieve

[2] BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Nigerians executed in Indonesia

[3] allAfrica.com: Sourced from Daily Champion - Nigeria: 70 Citizens Await Execution in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia

[4] BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Singapore executes drug smugglers

[5] Five Pakistanis, Nigerian executed in Saudi - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[6] allAfrica.com: Sourced from ThisDayOnline.com - Nigeria: 29 Condemned in Thailand, Afghanistan Get Reprieve

[7] theage.com.au: Illegal immigrants targeting Italy - Breaking News - World - Breaking News

Insult laws an insult to democracy

Humourlessly derisive

Sometimes, one is almost in great shame to be African when news of crass stupidity emanates from the continent about leaders who think they are demigods.

Obviously, there is probably some sense in protecting public officials from unwarranted insults and verbal attacks accompanied by threats of violence.

However, the whole thing about insulting leaders and having the freedom of expression of the culprits curtailed to the extent of exercising the law of crime and punishment is a bit of overkill.

Indeed, some culprits might have to be cautioned in order to forestall civil unrest, but that should be as a very last resort.

Lèse Majesté

In Thailand where lèse majesté laws are part of the culture, it is understandable that revered monarchies can expect a level of protection from unnecessary assaults to their person or office, however, there is a Quid pro quo in this relationship - between king and subjects; the monarch should be seen to carry his office with grace and respect to the point of being irreproachable.

What I fail to appreciate is leaders who assume a position of authority either by democratic mandate or some putsch of suspicious intent who then suddenly arrogate to themselves lèse majesté mystique as if they were kings anointed of God to rule over man and not answerable to anyone.

This kind of primitive exercise of humourless conduct is unbecoming of democracies not to talk of the 21^st Century, of all times.

Writing fiction as truth

So, a secondary school teacher asks a final-year class to write a humorous essay about the mistress of a fictitious African leader; some zealous sycophant comes across the material and automatically suggests that the President of Mali has been insulted.

This becomes a charge that goes to court and they end up with suspended jail terms in a hearing that took place in a closed court.

So much for democracy in Mali if it cannot be underpinned by the all important freedom of expression because some patronage seeking prosecutor has been consumed with irrational zeal and reckless abuse of office and error of judgement. This is unlike a case in Zambia where the courts are not only more circumspect, they were reasonable and stopped the deportation of a satirical journalist for using animal metaphors to describe the president.

Insult laws an insult to democracy

It would appear laws similar to this silly exercise in stupidity called "insult laws" exist in 48 out of 53 countries in Africa, allowing for the freedom of press to be curtailed and giving the government to power to stifle debate, dissent and opposition.

Germany and Poland has laws that make it illegal to insult foreign heads of state, especially those present in Polish territory when it comes to Poland and that is sensible enough.

If only we could see more noblesse oblige and less lèse majesté aggrandisement, we might just get on with making Africa less of a global laughing-stock when more important things are there to be done.

Makes you wonder, if the President of Mali really does have a mistress, a concubine, a harlot, a harem, a dominatrix in his palace or he is given to more unmentionable lewd conduct?

Now, I would be persona-non-grata in Mali along with Thailand, Turkey, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I am doing fine.

Stupid laws

Becoming persona non grata in Thailand

Cellophane skinned lion hearts

Becoming persona non grata in Thailand

Most High Men

Now obviously this is skirting the realms of the unspeakable, untouchable and the incredible. Whilst I do have respect for monarchies and they do need to maintain an air of mystique about them, it becomes a bit much when these mere mortals who have assumed great power on earth get venerated as demi-gods and are accorded sacred virtues of holy unapproachable idols.

A typical scenario has been played out in Thailand where the much revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX and ruler of over 60 years has been so feted.

An inebriated Swiss man resident in Thailand for over 10 years allowed his alcohol to get the better of him and went about defacing pictures commemorating the 79^th birthday of the king.

That basically is vandalism in any general crime and punishment regime for which there should be some public order sanction.

Insulting the king

This however takes an interesting twist when the statute books contain a law that pertains to insulting a king, denigrating the name of a nation and identity or creating caricatures of seemingly revered figures of tradition or religion.

So, back in Thailand, the Swiss gets 10 years imprisonment for defacing pictures of the king, one does wonder what would have happened if he had defaced the statue of the king or worse still, gotten close to the king as to shout insults at the king.

In the 21^st Century, it does not augur well for such societies to confer unassailable mystique and infallibility of any person to the point of benevolent deification.

It is shameful that one cannot criticise the king even constructively for the fear of overbearing lèse majesté laws that restrict free speech and curtail free expression thus protecting of some air of importance, dare I say, delusions of heavenly grandeur.

Taking offence unnecessarily

I do not think the critique of any person of importance, the defacement of a representation of a potentate or the refusal to genuflect to a monarch should constitute an offence, those who intend to be slighted can by their your will so be slighted but not by making an atrocious law to create an offence of the event.

One must not forget that royal influence was exerted in encouraging a military putsch that ousted a democratically elected regime that had quite a following amongst the Thai poor, the military rulers however have been cack-handed in handling the economy and made such of fuss of outlawing You-Tube for hosting material that made fun of the king.

Wasting the time of the king

In the end, the Swiss man received a royal pardon which is commendable but the situation is on the whole worsened because an inconsequential event in a Thailand backwater by a drunken foreigner went on to gain international prominence requiring the king exercise a prerogative because of a law that really should be struck off the books of any modern nation.

How this differs from the Turkish laws of insulting Turkishness or the legacy of Ataturk and the Muslim reaction to the Mohammedan cartoons with the fatwas that ensued would make interesting debate.

One suspects this is unlike other rulers who are cellophane skinned that they cannot brook any dissent and it is simply about courtiers trying to maintain the suffocating air of mystique around his majesty and by doing so heaping cause for opprobrium on the Thai people.

I guess these means I am persona non grata in Thailand.

References

Sensitive heads of state

Cellophane skinned lion hearts

The Ideological Contagion of dummy capitalism

A contagion most contagious

I could not help but snigger when an analyst from Goldman Sachs appeared on CNN and depicted the possibility of some Chavez socialist ideas being taken on by other Andean states as Ideological Contagion.

Now, that is something he definitely thought of earlier, however, that is beside the point. The threat to nationalise a number of previously privatised utilities lead to the suspension of trading in the shares of a number of companies which lost between 20% to 30% of their value as investors took fright.

Evidently, many political socialists are oblivious of market economics and how capitalism works, in fact, the only Nobel Prize winner in Economics from a socialist background won on the topical issue of the theory of optimum allocation of resources – the fixation on redistribution of resources and wealth without assessing merit creates an island of states that really cannot insulate themselves from the march of globalisation. [This comment is not an exegesis on the economics of allocation of resources or the socialist contexts of Karl Marx]

Chaos borne from Communism

Many would say the fall of Communism created a more peaceful world as we relaxed from the Cold War and settled into a more destabilising war between civilisations.

The states that gave up Communism and adopted shades of democracy have also ensconced capitalism, however, none have matured in appreciating the voice of their people now have they really accepted the force and good of market economics.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Moscow through the unconscionable way they instituted an asset raid on Yukos by claiming back-taxes that bankrupted the company because the chief executive of the company chose to pitch his tent in political opposition to the president.

Force of government abuse

All those assets are now in the hands of the Russian government, but two wrongs do not make a right. The sell-off of the national chattels to influential ex-Communists and opportunistic smart cads – oligarchs - in the Yeltsin years was wrong, however, rather than seek redress through the Rule of Law (A sign of matured democracies) and due process (another sign of matured democracies), the state apparatus terrorised and appropriated with untrammelled lien every means to redress that Yukos to access to dig themselves of out the rut.

So also, we see the kind of muscle that Gazprom exerts on all foreign investment with the force of government to invalidate contracts and threat major loss of investment that investors are literally stampeded into accepting minority stakes in their major investments to remain in business in Russia.

The first gas war

Last January, we saw the distorted face of capitalism when Gazprom decided subsidies to Ukraine were no more economical and rather than present a graduated withdrawal of subsidies, we were seeing price hikes of up to 50% for economies that would literally collapse if they were to be exacted.

A resolution was reached, but not without Europe realising that their energy security was being threatened by a newcomer to capitalism who had goods to sell but no marketplace decorum.

We were introduced to a large nation that was getting drunk on being the largest exporter of gas and oil, these was now being used a tool of political leverage to emasculate the near-abroad that was adopting a more Western outlook.

Europe with more money than sense

Historically, the USSR was somewhat energy self-sufficient, when the Soviet Union broke up; the states came to an arrangement which involved subsidised exports to these former Soviet republics.

The issue of subsidy arises because another part of energy economics does not necessary relate the cost of production to the selling price, but it is more related to the affordability of the demand-led sector.

It explains why Europe is probably paying over the odds for Russian oil and this is being used as a standard of measure of non-European countries which have hardly 20% of the average GDP of EU-15, probably more in relation to EU-25 or EU-27. Gazprom had 3^rd Quarter profits increase 68% in 2005.

The second oil and gas war

This energy bullying stance came to a head in December when Gazprom decided to double the price of Belarusian fuel supplies, they came to an agreement but Russia is now being taught a lesson in understanding their means of production when trying to reach their market.

In the case of Ukraine, the pipeline was a branch off from the main European supply route, Belarus however is the trunk of the European pipeline network, and everything goes through Belarus and they are not looking to make any friends and do not care.

Gazprom in its gullibility thought they could squeeze Belarus and then expect their oil to traverse the land of Belarus without sanction, retribution or reaction, well, a tit-for-tat in which Belarus imposed crippling taxes on traversal, extracted payment with oil and Russia ended up closing the pipeline as Europe looks on helpless against the tyranny of capitalism in the hands of cretins.

Learning capitalism the hard way

If Russia cannot get its oil to its customers, it would either have to back down with egg on its face or invade Belarus and institute regime change. No matter how reviled the Belarusian president Lukashenka is, standing up to Russia would fuel the embers of nationalism and support for their president.

This would lead to a very interesting conclusion.

Then we move on to Thailand where after a military coup, the government decided to tinker with the markets by imposing currency controls to prevent the flight of capital, that day, the market fell 15%, the first time the Thai market fell so much in its 31-year history.

The ideological contagion of stupid economics

The Ideological Contagion is very much like boys trying to play the games of real men, capitalism and market economics are not levers one can push and pull in isolation, these ideas sit in a globalised setting where everyone is in a train at the top of a steep incline, one wrong pull and the thing goes hurtling down unstoppably to a demise too gruesome to record.

Russia was never ready for capitalism and they are not in school learning to do it right, it would now take an unruly dictatorship to teach the lesson that without your means of good transportation, you would be making no capital; if your goods traverse fields you do not own, you should remain good friends with that field owner.

Venezuela probably wants to get those privatised organisations on the cheap and that is best done by threatening to create the flight of capital – however, does a nationalised entity end up getting better managed for the government or do company taxes paid by a privatised entity create more revenue?

As for Thailand, the military government would find no legitimacy, they must have forgotten that the economy is no Army battalion that you can order around like some recruit in a boot camp, I am sure they have duly learnt a lesson they would not forget.

References

Gazprom’s Strategy

The Folly of Renationalisation

The Kinks In Russia's Oil Pipeline