The Revolution and Primiership
Following the Revolution of 1932, King Prajadhipok (or Rama VII) consented to a Provisional Constitution on the 27 June 1932. The first People's Assembly of Siam, composed entirely of appointed members, met for the first time on 28 June. The revolutionary Khana Ratsadon not wanting to seem like had instigated the revolution for themselves decided to choose Phraya Manopakorn as President of the Committee. He was considered a largely neutral and clean figure, but at the same time respected enough to take the position.
As a result the Assembly with the advice of Pridi Panomyong, one of the leaders of the Khana Ratsadon offered Manopakorn the post of "President of the People's Committee" - an early version of the post of Prime Minister.
The first mission of Phraya Manopakorn's Cabinet was to draft a permanent constitution. King Prajadhipok made an observation that the term "President of the People's Committee" sounded like a communist or republican post. After a debate, the office was eventually changed to "Prime Minister". The first constitution of Siam was promulgated under Phraya Manopakorn's watch on 10 December 1932 - now celebrated as the Thai Constitution Day.
Soon after Phraya Manopakorn became the Head of the first constitutional government of Siam. However the Manopakorn Cabinet or People's Committee was composed members; half from the People's Party and half from senior civil servants and military officers appointed under the guidance of the party. Phraya Manopakorn in essence became the Khana Ratsadon's puppet, and the country- a single party state.
Read more about this topic: Phraya Manopakorn Nititada
Famous quotes containing the word revolution:
“In bourgeois society, the French and the industrial revolution transformed the authorization of political space. The political revolution put an end to the formalized hierarchy of the ancien regimé.... Concurrently, the industrial revolution subverted the social hierarchy upon which the old political space was based. It transformed the experience of society from one of vertical hierarchy to one of horizontal class stratification.”
—Donald M. Lowe, U.S. historian, educator. History of Bourgeois Perception, ch. 4, University of Chicago Press (1982)