The postponement of the voting of new police chief

In the selection of the new Police Bureau head, why did (do) Suthep and Nipon back Jumpol, thereby going against Apisit ?

Why did (and will) the Interior Minister Chavarat insist on voting for Jumpol?

You tell me. Journalists have not reported the answers to these 2 questions, which I am sure was asked. If you don’t want to answer these questions, then tell me the motives of the others who are not in the police force but voted for Jumpol.

Another question: Is Gen. Pateep likely to get the position?

My view is that the appointment issue has been blown out of proportion, and the media has framed it as a loss of face or lack of leadership quality of Apisit if he can’t get his way. 

I don’t see it as victory or defeat. That’s a juvenile way of looking at it. It’s more a trashing out between different interests and coming to a conclusion most beneficial to the nation. And to have many rounds is normal, even desirable, in a contested situation.

If Jumpol is voted in, it just means that the Police committee wants Jumpol and that’s it. It’s a matter of different judgment, based on opposite interests, which is normal in an organization.  Look at meetings of boards of directors, sometimes they argue until blue in the face, several times.

If it doesn’t swing his way, Apisit can find ways to work with what he’s got and he can get back at them later in his own time. This is also a normal situation in management politics.  If Jumpol is found later to be bent, subversive, or does things he shouldn’t be doing, then there are ways to deal with this. No one, except schoolchildren, is going to accuse Apisit of weakness of character, because everybody knows the real situation behind the voting, the entrenched opposition, the balance of forces etc. (see Piset’s blog for some ideas, which one does not have to agree with). If Jumpol does not his duty well, if he walks off the straight and narrow, the committee members that voted him in will bear responsibility for displaying bad judgment, and probably be pressured to resign, or even dismissed (as they should). Then, Apisit can strike, and strike hard (that is, if he’s still around as PM).

So I still see it as a win win for him, in the end.

But it’s the media that loves to report the affair in terms of a fight because it sells. But they don’t have the guts--or the interest-- to elaborate on the motives behind the players.

The postponement is one tactic, before the final meet, which should be sooner than later, as these things shouldn’t drag on.  Or maybe it’s OK to drag on. To procrastinate can be a strategy, while certain developments develop.