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  • The State of the US Presidential Race
  • Thailand: Shinawatra Heiress Appointed Youngest PM
  • China’s Tibetan Buddhists Urged to Obey Reincarnation Rules
  • Myanmar Civil War: Rohingya Fighters & Junta Face a Common Enemy

By Shashi P.B.B. Malla 

US Presidential Election

In America and in many parts of the world, the focus remains trained on the November elections, now less than two months away.

The stakes for most US presidential elections tend to be limited, if only because similarities between the candidates far outweigh any differences.

This is not the case this time around.

As Richard Haass has written in his weekly newsletter “Home & Away”/”Not Ripe”, the differences – over taxes, government spending, the role of government, access to guns, democracy, foreign policy, climate, abortion rights, and just about anything other than Nippon Steel’s bid to buy out U.S. Steel – are quite significant (Sept. 6).

As Haass underlines, the U.S. and the world will be deeply affected by this crucial election, even if it results in a divided Congress [the opposite party to the president’s holding a majority in the House or Senate, or both] that reins in some of the preferences of the next president.

He also stresses the impact could be even greater if there is a contested outcome that results in prolonged political uncertainty accompanied by violence [on the part of disgruntled Trump supporters in the case of a VP Kamala Harris victory].

The polls indicate the race remains close.

We will soon know what difference the much-anticipated September 10 debate on the US network ABC makes, if any. It would be surprising if Harris does not make a consequential impact.

Former VP Dick Cheney endorses VP Kamala Harris

In a significant development, former US Vice President and lifelong Republican Dick Cheney has confirmed he will vote for the Dempcrats’ Kamala Harris (BBC, Sept. 7).

Mr Cheney, seen as a powerful figure during the presidency of George W. Bush, issued a statement saying there had “never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”

His daughter, former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, had told an audience in Texas earlier that her father planned to back the Democratic nominee.

Trump “tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him,” said Mr Cheney. “He can never be trusted with power again.”

He added: “As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Mr Cheney’s remarks were welcomed by the Harris camp.

“The vice-president is proud to have the support of Vice-President Cheney, and deeply respects his courage to put country over party, said campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.

Mr Cheney joins a growing list of Republicans who have expressed concern about the candidacy of Donald Trump.

His daughter, Liz Cheney, had already given her backing to Vice-President Harris.

She served on the House Select Committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riots, and was one of the 10 Republicans to vote to impeach former President Trump after the incident.

Ms Cheney lost her seat in Congress in 2022 to a Trump-backed candidate. She may well be the Republican that Harris wants to appoint in her administration – if she wins!

Taking to social media following Mr Cheney’s statement, Trump called the former vice-president an “irrelevant RINO” – an acronym which stands for “Republican in name only”.

Trump also described Mr Cheney as the “King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars” alluding to his role in the Iraq War.

Harris campaign says Trump deal with the Taliban led to “catastrophic consequences” in Afghanistan

Trump and his allies have repeatedly sought to link Harris to the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Harris campaign national security spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein cited Trump’s handling of Afghanistan as an ezample of foreign policy that “put our troops in harm’s way.”

“Trump shamelessly attacks the Vice President because he hopes he can trick the country into forgetting that his own actions undermined U.S. strategy and put our troops and allies in harm’s way…He cut a bad deal with the very same people who violently took over Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government. Trump’s chaotic actions led to catastrophic consequences in Afghanistan,” Finkelstein said in the statement (CNN, September 7).

Retired Lt.Gen. H.R. McMaster, who served as national security adviser under Trump, said last month that his onetime boss bears some responsibility for what was ultimately a chaotic withdrawal.

Thailand’s King Swears In New Government After Turmoil

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the heiress of Thailand’s most famous and rich political dynasty, was sworn in as prime minister last week Friday, capping a month of turmoil in which her predecessor was thrown out of office and the main opposition party dissolved (AFP/Agence France Presse, Sept. 7).

Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, took the oath in a closed-door ceremony with King Maha Vajiralongkorn, officially becoming Thailand’s youngest prime minister.

The 38-year-old is the third member of the Shinawatra political dynasty to lead the country in the past 23 years, following her father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.

The king congratulated her new cabinet, saying in a speech broadcast on television news: “I trust that you will perform your duties with excellence.”

Paetongtarn replaces Srettha Thavisin, from her own [and her father’s] Pheu Thai party, after his shock dismissal in mid-August by the kingdom’s Constitutional Court for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.

Ms Shinawatra takes the helm of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy [after Indonesia] with growth and investment stagnating as political instability lingers.

Her 36-member cabinet includes eight women, a record, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.

Paetongtarn, a relative newcomer to politics, urged her party’s enemies on Thursday to give her a chance.

“Please be kind to me, please don’t throw any lawsuits on me, I am trying my best,” she told reporters.

A power struggle between Thaksin and the country’s conservative royalist-military establishment has dominated Thai politics for decades.

Thaksin, a 75-year-old telecoms billionaire and one time Manchester City Club owner, is adored by millions of poorer Thais [especially in the North] for his social welfare policies in the early 2000s.

However, he has long been despised by the established royalist-military elites who accuse him of corruption and wanting to smash Thailand’s traditional social order, including the royalist dispensation.

Parties linked to Thaksin finished first in every election from 2001 until last year but their governments were regularly upended by court orders and military coups.

Thaksin was ousted by the army in 2006 and his sister Yingluck in 2014, both going into self-exile abroad.

Thaksin critics have long accused him of pulling the strings, even while he was out of the country, and Paentongtarn will be watched closely for signs of his influence.

“That’s the headwind for Paetongtarn, she has to prove herself that she has her own agenda, she has her own will…and that’s very difficult,” Khemthong Tonsakulrunggruang, an analyst from Chulalongkorn University, told AFP.

Thaksin returned from exile last year on the day Pheu Thai secured the premiership in a coalition deal with former foes in pro-military parties, leading many to suspect he had cut a backroom deal.

He was immediately sentenced to 8 years in jail on charges of graft and abuse of power dating back to his government rule.

However, he had his sentence reduced swiftly and was pardoned without spending any time in prison.

As well as sacking Srettha, the Constitutional Court also dissolved the popular reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) last month.

MFP beat Pheu Thai into second place in last year’s general election on pledges to reduce the military’s influence, break up powerful business monopolies and reform royal insult laws.

Who Will Succeed the Dalai Lama?

More than 50 Tibetan Buddhist monks and religious experts attended a seminar in Lanzhou, Gansu province last Tuesday about policies and regulations for the “reincarnation of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism”(SCMP/ South China Morning Post, Sept. 7).

The seminar was aimed at making Tibetan Buddhism ‘compatible with socialist society’.

Senior Buddhist figures in China have emphasized the importance of government approval in the recognition of reincarnated Tibetan religious leaders [inside and outside China?].

The attendees were from “related provinces and regions”, referring to areas with significant Tibetan populations, including the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu.

This comes less than a year before the Dalai Lama [currently in exile in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India] is expected to announce his succession plan.

Controversy around the highly explosive topic of his reincarnation has been a constant source of tension between Beijing and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Beijing has accused the Nobel Peace Laureate of being a “separatist” and of inciting unrest among Tibetans in China in the 1980s and in 2008.

There have long been concerns that his death could trigger social tensions.

The current 14th Dalai Lama, who turned 89 in July, has indicated that he will address the issue of his reincarnation when he turns 90.

The Dalai Lama has disagreed with Beijing over the reincarnation of several other living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism. He previously proposed ending his reincarnation, which would avoid Beijing’s involvement in the matter. But Beijing has insisted that his reincarnation must follow Chinese law.

According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the Dalai Lama dies, he will be reincarnated as a very young child. This child must be found through a series of unconventional searches and esoteric rituals. The Dalai Lama himself is supposed to leave behind secret hints and suggestions.

The selection is traditionally made by respected Tibetan monks.

There is also the tradition that the two highest ranks – the Dalai and Panchen Lamas must be mutually recognized by each other to be generally accepted.

A major problem is that the current Panchen Lama has not been recognized by the 14th Dalai Lama, and cannot, therefore, be instrumental in choosing his successor.

On Myanmar’s Frontline

Myanmar’s ruling military long viewed the insurgency among persecuted Rohingya Muslims as an existential threat to the majority Bamar Buddhist nation.

However, as the Arakan Army rebel group in the country’s north-west  makes sweeping gains, the junta and some Rohyingya fighters now face a common foe (Reuters/Devjyot Ghosal, Sept. 7).

In a once-unthinkable arrangement, the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) says its fighters have reached an “understanding” with the military not to attack each other, as they both battle the Arakan Army, the major rebel force in north-western Myanmar.

“The junta did not attack us, and we did not attack them,” Ko Ko Linn, the head of RSO’s political affairs, told Reuters in a rare interview.

The RSO is just one of several Rohingya armed groups tussling for power in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, where over a million from the community live, and in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohyingya fled to Bangladesh after a brutal junta crackdown in 2017 that the U.N. described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

The fighting in Rakhine now is part of a wider rebellion against Myanmar’s junta, three years after it ousted an elected civilian government in a coup, triggering nationwide protests that have morphed into an armed uprising.

The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com