EDITORIAL
Just when Thailand needs strong leadership, imaginative policies and cohesive national management, the government is failing the nation. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has vacillated instead of acting decisively.
Even the few positive economic plans have been introduced willy-nilly and without proper explanation. Mr Somchai has stood by while ministers squabbled and undermined each other. The cabinet meeting tomorrow is something of a last chance for the premier to step up and start running the country for everyone.
Mr Somchai was never on the books to be a popular prime minister. His appointment in the wake of the court decision that ousted predecessor Samak Sundaravej from the difficult job was tolerated by the public because of his personal standing as a bureaucrat in the judiciary branch. But the premier has taken "low key" to a new level. At times he has seemed almost unaware that the chief job of the prime minister and cabinet ministers is to handle the day-to-day business of the country.
Mr Somchai's constant theme from the day he took office has been the necessity for the prime minister to plan and to oversee three important events: last weekend's funeral of Her Royal Highness the late Princess Galyani Vadhana, the celebrations on Dec 5 of the anniversary of the birth of His Majesty the King, and, 10 days later, the summit of Asean leaders and allies in Chiang Mai. Nor is he wrong. These significant events all are vital to the nation. But he is not exactly right, because these are duties over and above the main job of the premier, which is to govern the country.
It is this latter job where Mr Somchai and his cabinet ministers have let down the country. From the start, the government's approach to the constantly slowing economy has sapped the confidence of the bureaucracy, the business community and consumers alike. First, came the battle between Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat, supposedly in charge of the economy, and Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech over whether to invest taxpayer funds in the stock market. Mr Suchart was heavily in favour of such a move, while Mr Olarn insisted that the budget should help people, not corporations.
That nasty spat was still simmering, and indeed proved to be just a preliminary bout. Mr Olarn now is going toe-to-toe with Commerce Minister Chaiya Sasomsab. The subject of the fight is the rice mortgage scheme created during the Samak government. The ministers were defending their turf so strongly that they refused to speak to each other, or even to attend the same meetings.
Again, Mr Somchai has failed to step in. Last week, he waved his hand, seemingly dismissing the cabinet split on such an important, expensive matter. The two ministers, he said, would eventually put national interest before their own egos. Perhaps. But that still leaves the matter of the rice mortgage unsettled, a multi-billion-baht issue with strong support on both sides.
Mr Somchai has indicated that a cabinet reshuffle is on the books. By all indications it will be as timid and vapid as the government's performance in the past 55 days. Replacing a minister with a clone from his or her political party is a cynical exercise in coalition politics. Rotating the faces in the ministries gives no confidence.
Last Oct 7, the government fought its way into parliament to state its policies. Two lives were lost and hundreds changed by the violence that day. Since then, no policy has emerged. The economy and public morale have sunk further. There is little goodwill left for the Somchai government.
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