A majority of people do not think the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle would help improve the government's popularity, Suan Dusit Poll revealed on Sunday.
From left: Paveena Hongsakul, Yingluck Shinawatra and Jaturon Chaisaeng
The poll was conducted between June 27 and 29 on 1,416 people throughout the country.
Asked whether they think the reshuffle will help improve the government's popularity, the majority or 58.04% of the respondents said they believed it would not help, reasoning that the reshuffle is aimed only at reducing political and social conflicts; 26.74% thought it would, thanks to some new cabinet members; and 15.22% believed the government's popularity would even decline because many problems such as the rice pledging scheme, water and flood management and corruption remain unsolved.
When asked to compare between the new cabinet, which has yet to be officially sworn in, and the past ones, 55.31% said they are about the same because they still comprise politicians from the same group; 28.10% said the new one would be better judging from the capabilities and experiences of the new cabinet members; and 16.59% believed the new one would be worse.
Asked who they like the most among those who appear in the new cabinet line-up, Paveena Hongsakul, who is to be social development and human security minister, comes first with 82.30% of support from the respondents, followed by 80.38% for Jaturon Chaisaeng who is to be education minister, 77.83% for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra who will concurrently hold the post of defence minister, and 70.18% for Chalerm Yubamrung who is to be labour minister.
Suriyasai Katasila (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator of the anti-government Green Politics group, said the cabinet reshuffle would not solve "the national crisis".
"The reshuffle is aimed at stopping the government's downward spiral or restoring its popularity but it is difficult and too late now because the cause of the downward spiral is from the populist policies initiated by Thaksin Shinawatra," Mr Suriyasai said on Sunday. "The age of populist policies is coming to the final stage."
Populist policies in other countries lasted about six to eight years. The countries would fall apart if the policies continued, he said.
The government's rice-pledging and first-car tax-rebate schemes have brought financial burdens and affected many sectors. The household debt in the country has soared to a five-year high and prices of consumer products have continually increased, he said.
"We've exposed more corruption in the government and the southern unrest has not improved even when the government's trying to tell people that the situation is getting better. The news about Prime Minister Yingluck holding the defence portfolio will not have a positive impact on the deep South," he said.
"If the government stops fooling itself, it must know that a catastrophe is creeping towards it because of the 'Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts' policy," said the anti-government activist.
Teerat Rattanasewee, a government spokesperson, said on his Twitter page that Prime Minister Yingluck will lead her new team of cabinet ministers to take the oath of allegiance before His Majesty the King at Siriraj Hospital at 6pm Sunday.
Mr Teerat said Ms Yingluck has cancelled part of her scheduled visit to Mukdahan province on Sunday.