Editorial - Divisive Political Rhetoric

As the election campaign enters its final stage, society should be seeing policy-based competition between political parties - who has solutions to bread-and-butter issues and pathways forward for the country. However, what's actually happening is an escalation of "side-choosing" rhetoric with a binary, black-or-white approach from conservative political parties attempting to monopolize the meaning of "loving the nation" for themselves alone. This starts with slogans like "Vote for Uncle Tu's supporters" and extends to explicit declarations that Thai politics today is simply a battle between those who "love the nation" and those who "do not." These narratives are neither new nor constructive. They represent a proven formula of politics driven by fear, hatred, and division. Election analysts point out that when politicians claim "If you don't choose us, they will definitely come" or equate "not choosing us" with "not loving the nation," they're forcing political decisions into a moral framework. Anyone with a different view is broadly labeled an enemy of the nation - despite the fact that differing opinions are normal in a democracy, and loving one's country is not a single-color or single-form concept. What's particularly concerning is that while the country faces critical challenges in economics, poverty, household debt, inequality, public health, education, tourism, and exports, conservative party leaders choose to communicate not about recovery policies, but to continuously emphasize divisive "us versus them" imagery. It seems they view electoral victory as more important than healing social rifts. Such campaigning might yield short-term results, potentially attracting conservative voters or those still attached to old power structures. But in the long term, it will only deepen societal divisions. Regardless of the February 8th election outcome, the country will remain in a state of unresolved conflict - winners unable to truly conclude their victory, losers unwilling to accept defeat. Democratic politicians must understand that power gained from the people should not come at the cost of turning people against each other. Pushing fellow citizens into political enmity is not courage, but a failure of thinking. If any party truly loves the nation, they should lead the country and its people forward, not drag them back into familiar conflicts. If conservative parties are confident of victory, their answer should lie in constructive policies, not divisive rhetoric that tears society apart.