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U ntil the new government is in put in place some time next month, this is necessarily a bit of a waiting period here in Thailand. We all know that Thaksin Shinawatra will continue as prime minister, but we can only speculate who will serve with him in his cabinet. One key figure who apparently will not be a member of the cabinet this time is former Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyuth. Last week, the 73-year-old veteran politician announced his retirement from politics, saying that he would only be available as an advisor. In last Sunday’s editorial, the Bangkok Post cautioned Mr Thaksin against including “self-serving” politicians in his cabinet who might “undermine his authority to govern”. It suggested that he instead appoint well-respected outsiders. Watch to see if he does. At the same time, we will also be watching to see what results from one of Mr Thaksin’s first initiatives when he takes office for the second time. Last week, he announced that he would call a joint session of both houses of parliament on March 30-31 to hear advice on how to deal with the ongoing unrest in the deep South. This is a highly unusual step, the first time, in fact, this has ever happened under the new constitution. The move won immediate praise from many of Mr Thaksin’s critics who have long decried the prime minister's unwillingness to listen to the opinions of those who disagree with him. But it also puts his detractors in parliament on the spot. The will have to offer useful policy alternatives, something, Mr Thaksin complains, they have never done. It
will be interesting to see if one of the prime minister's most controversial
policy proposals will still be on the table when the joint session
meets. That, of course, is his plan to withhold
development funds from southern villages classified as “red zones”
for their Critics have Meanwhile, in the opposition camp, the Democrats are awaiting next Saturday’s party meeting during which members will select their new leader. The odds-on favourite is Abhisit Vejjajiva who has announced plans to revamp the party and focus on winning over the younger generation of Thai voters. As a recent member of that generation himself, he would certainly seem to stand a better chance of doing so than the old guard that has been in charge of party policy.
Last week, Mr Abhisit pledged that if confirmed as party leader he would
usher in “swift
and radical” changes.
A fruit farmer in Narathiwat inspects his crop as an armed neighbour looks on. How to stop the ongoing violence in the mainly Muslim southern provinces will be one of the most urgent tasks of the new government. Since he is almost certain to win that position we will soon see
what he has in mind. Life goes on — even with a caretaker government holding fort — and some decisions simply can’t wait. Thus, the transportation industry was shaken last week with the news that subsidy on diesel oil it had been enjoying would be substantially reduced for the first time in more than a year. The government’s move, wrote Bangkok Post commentator Boonson Kositchotethana, was long overdue. Keeping the price of diesel oil artificially low in the hopes that world energy prices would decline was “defying reality,” he said. And it has been costing the government a fortune — more than 61 billion baht so far. But even that huge amount doesn’t account for the damage it has done to the economy itself, he continued. “It [the subsidy] created a huge distortion in the consumption of this oil product, seriously undermining the costly energy conservation programme and encouraging people to buy cars and drive more…. “Vital statistics speak volumes. Overall petroleum consumption soared 7.7% last year… and a key contributor to this surge in demand was diesel oil which zoomed 11.6% ... On the other hand, petrol consumption was almost flat, partly due to the lifting of the subsidy in October which forced consumers to conserve fuel.” Since diesel prices still don’t reflect actual world market prices, the distortions are continuing. It will be interesting to see if the new government eventually takes the politically unpopular step of letting the local price float with the market price
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