It is in keeping with his singular style of governance that Thailand's embattled prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, lost his job by winning an election. His victory in snap elections has precipitated a constitutional crisis. Sensing that a numerical majority would not allow him to govern, Mr. Thaksin stepped down -- for the good of the nation, he said -- and passed on to his opponents the burden of fixing the political mess. It is a cruel irony, but it is vitally important that they succeed. Thailand's democracy could hang in the balance.
Mr. Thaksin has been a bold leader since he first won office five years ago. He was a successful telecommunications entrepreneur -- one of Asia's richest men -- who came to power by projecting an image of efficient and effective leadership. He promised to share his success with ordinary Thais, and his campaign pledged ample funds and debt relief to rural areas. He kept those promises, and won the firm support of those communities. Their support allowed him to be the first Thai prime minister to serve a full term and be re-elected with a handsome parliamentary majority in 2005.
Urban Thais, however, were less impressed with Mr. Thaksin's performance. They criticized a ruthless antidrug campaign that resulted in thousands of suspicious deaths. They feared that his heavy-handed response to Muslim violence in the country's southern provinces was only increasing alienation and making a real solution more difficult. They believed that he turned a blind eye to cronyism and corruption. But they were most outraged by the prime minister's family's decision -- Mr. Thaksin had had to divest his shares when he took office, although most people believe he maintained control -- to sell its stake in a telecommunications company to Singaporean investors. The readiness to sell an element of the national infrastructure to foreigners was hard to swallow, but revelations that the deal also allowed the family to take a $1.9 billion tax write-off was too much to bear.