Thailand's new coalition government led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is to restore many populist policies initiated by former administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, revealed the Samak cabinet in its policy address before the parliament on Monday.
Restoring national reconciliation, which include persistent violence in Thailand's restive deep south, enhancing democracy, solving narcotics problem, reducing poverty, increasing people's income, curbing commodities' price and easing impact of climate change and environmental pollution on people's lives, and improving social security for aging population are listed top in the first-year administration of Samak government's four-year term.
The reading of the government policy address by Samak lasted more than one hour on Monday morning, 12 days after his cabinet took office on Feb. 6. It was followed by a debate inside the parliament, comprising newly elected Members of Parliament and members of National Legislative Assembly (NLA) who acted as caretaker senators, whose duties will expire in three days.
The NLA is the junta-appointed interim legislative body in Thailand after the Sept. 19 coup in 2006 that ousted the administration of Thaksin Shinawatra. It is expected to fade out soon as the general election on Dec. 23, 2007 has produced the 480MPs in House of Representatives, while the election and selection of 150 senators are set to be completed next month.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of Democrat Party, the only opposition party sitting in the parliament which earlier announced a shadow cabinet, led the offensive side in the debate to grill the Samak government on the policy address.
Samak pointed out the two most urgent challenges from outside facing Thai economy -- the ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States and the surging oil price on the global market. To ease negative impact of these two elements on Thai economy should be the government's priority, he said.
Declaring a base of its platform on the Sufficiency Economy theory initiated by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the coalition government of six parties, led by Samak's People Power Party (PPP),is set to honor the PPP's pledge during the election campaign by reviving, with some adjustments, some key populist policies implemented during the ousted Thaksin administration, which earned the Thaksin government staunch support among the country's majority grass-root people both in rural and urban areas.
Some populist projects initiated by Thaksin are either to be extended or restored under Samak government's policy platform, including the One Tambon (sub-district) One Product (OTOP) project, which aims to promote small or medium-sized rural enterprises, the Village Fund which provides low-interest loans to the rural poor, low-cost housing and debt moratorium for the low-incomers, and the People's Bank that provides start-up capital for rural entrepreneurs.
The Samak government also vowed to increase investment in infrastructure and mega-projects, including a plan to upgrade the rail transportation system nationwide, to stimulate the recently stagnant Thai economy.
The policy designates the year 2008-2009 as the Year of Investment and Tourism.
On foreign policy, the government will focus on strengthening ties in political, economic, trade, tourism, security areas with neighbor countries, especially with those under the Greater Mekong River Sub-region cooperation framework, while seek a bigger role of Thailand in the regional issues.
It will also push for the further integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Thailand is set to chair later this year, and for a greater role of the regional bloc on global issues.
The government also indicated possible amendment of the Constitution 2007, which passed a national referendum last August after the junta abolished the Constitution 1997, citing controversies around the new charter.
Democrat opposition MPs led by Abhisit responded to the Samak government's platform by warning it against a repetition of past negative consequences from the populist policies implemented during the former Thaksin administration, such as too high cost and increased burden of debt, as accused by Thaksin's critics in the past.
Critics had said the populist polices and projects, dubbed Thaksinomics, has drained the government's coffer to benefit companies close to Thaksin and cater his supporters, mostly the urban and rural poor, and diverted the tax burden largely to the country's middle class. However, the supporters said it largely helped reduce poverty in the country and stimulate Thai economy after hit hard by the 1997 financial crisis.
Democrat leader Abhisit, who appointed himself as the Shadow Prime Minister and Education Minister, accused the Samak government of insufficient concern on the country's education system.
The Samak government's policies are expected to win parliamentary approval after the three-day debate as the six-party coalition government holds two-thirds of the seats in the 480-member House of Representatives (or Lower House), while the opposition Democrat occupies only 164 seats.
The PPP, which grabbed most seats in the Dec. 23 general election and announced a coalition government with five smaller parties, is seen as the new banner for the former ruling party Thai Rak Thai (TRT), founded by ousted premier Thaksin.
After the TRT was disbanded on electoral fraud charges after the coup, many former TRT members joined the formerly fringe PPP and diverted TRT supporters, mostly in Thailand's north and northeast, to vote for the PPP in the December election to secure the latter's victory.
Source: Xinhua
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