Fledgling Mahachon's left-leaning platform focuses on social reform, poverty reduction

Story by SOMPORN THAPANACHAI and CHATRUDEE THEPARAT

The Mahachon Party will allow the private sector and grassroots organisations to assist government agencies in formulating state policy, according the party's head of economic team Dr Sangsidh Piriyarangsan.

This election pledge sets the fledgling party apart from its rivals, he added. While power-to-the-people may not be a unique political philosophy in other countries, in Thailand it is definitely a new direction, after decades of governments characterised by military dictatorship and/or heavily centralised rule.

Such a policy direction, the party's strategists point out, is also in line with the principles of public empowerment and the gradual decentralisation of power outlined in the 1997 constitution.

"We don't want to be a government that knows everything; we want to hear from the private sector and communities what they want in order to design policies to match their needs. There is but one condition: participants in the policy development process must not have a conflict of interest.

"We want to be a smaller but smarter government. Our policies are definitely different from Thai Rak Thai's CEO management policy," said Dr Sangsidh, a former lecturer at Chulalongkorn University and deputy chairman of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council.

He said that representatives from each organisation would be allowed to participate in the drafting of both macro- and micro-economic policies.

"We are willing to amend laws and regulations to liberate private organisations, such as the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers Association, from the government so they would be able to manage the organisation to fulfil the needs of their members without facing government restrictions," he said.

Among the core policies that represent the party's philosophy, Dr Sangsidh said Mahachon would emphasise encouraging people and communities at the grassroots to learn how to be more productive using an economic model based on the principles of self-sufficiency.

The best way to eliminate poverty would be through the educational system; therefore, the party intends to offer 19 years of free education from kindergarten through university for the country's 10 million poor. Eligible families will be those earning less than 1,200 baht per month based on their classification by the National Economic and Social Development Board.

"This is to create equality in society. Otherwise the poor won't have a chance to see their children get a university degree. People with higher incomes have to pay part of the educational fees. Quality people will be the country's most essential resource. Now 66% of workers are only graduates of primary schools or even lower," said Dr Sangsidh.

He said the party wanted to promote fair competition in the free- enterprise system, but still protect small firms from excessive competition with large conglomerates. This would give local business owners the right to protect themselves from large companies. Funds would be set up to encourage the production and trading of small businesses in order to help them acquire capital to expand.

"One-third of all small grocery shops have been forced out of business. Formerly, they acted as a kind of school where parents taught their children how to run a business. We need to restrict the free movement of capital by allowing more participation by the middle class," he said.

Under its decentralisation policy, 35% of the government's budget would be allocated to tambon-level administrations in the first year. Local authorities and private organisations would then be invited to make strategic decisions on spending with a special focus on job creation and capacity development for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Mahachon Party also pledges to reduce production costs for farmers by promoting organic farming nationwide, with the aim of cutting 60-90% of their costs while increasing harvest volumes at the same time.

For industry, the party will introduce a fairer taxation system and try to reduce the collection of indirect taxes such as the value-added and excise levies. It also wants to reduce under-the-table payments in the tax system so companies won't need to keep two or three different sets of accounting books to show the Revenue Department.

If the party has an opportunity to join a coalition government, it will insist on the passage into law of its social security policies, particularly a plan to establish an old age pension of at least 1,200 baht a month, and its free-education programme. Mahachon would transfer existing village funds to village administrations so that borrowers would be obliged to pay back their loans to the village instead of the government.

The party would also review all monopoly concessions in order to encourage fair competition, and increase transparency to reduce corruption. Such a move would benefit investors in terms of cost reduction while consumers would enjoy cheaper services.