Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should make a political decision after the censure debate to relieve the tension of demonstrators, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva says.
Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra listens to opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva during the censure debate yesterday. Mr Abhisit accused Ms Yingluck of allowing rampant corruption throughout her administration. CHANAT KATANYU
Protesters are suffering a crisis of faith in her government, he told the no-confidence debate against Ms Yingluck in parliament yesterday.
He said huge crowds of people had rallied in the past few weeks because they could not accept the prime minister who they believed was working for her own interest and that of her associates.
The opposition leader was referring to attempts to push for an amnesty bill that would absolve those involved in political offences from 2004 to Aug 8, 2013, and the government's refusal to accept the ruling of the Constitution Court against the charter amendment to have a fully elected Senate.
He said the government's defiance of the court's ruling was considered as a violation of the rule of law that could cause disorder in society and lead to a failed state.
Mr Abhisit said corruption was possible due to the lack of transparency in the government's allocation of 120 billion baht to cope with flooding in 2011, and the government's hasty plans to borrow 350 billion baht for water management and flood prevention projects that the administration had blocked the civil sector from examining.
The opposition leader said his side would also grill the prime minister about the government's rice-pledging scheme, dubious rice sales through claimed government-to-government deals and the 2.2-trillion-baht transport development projects.
In response to Mr Abhisit, Ms Yingluck said accusations of her ineffective national administration, her lack of ability, discrimination and cronyism were serious and unfair considering the performance of her government over the past two years.
She said her government opened anti-graft centres at ministries and government agencies and allowed the private sector to examine government projects to prevent corruption.
Democrat list-MP Jurin Laksanavisit accused Ms Yingluck of a failure in national administration and a lack of efficiency, morality and wisdom.
Ms Yingluck laughed at the remark.
Democrat MP for Phatthalung Nipit Intarasombat then focused on the alleged inability of the prime minister. He said Ms Yingluck was the first premier to have ministers defend her when she faced allegations.
"I see only a lack of wisdom and development of the prime minister. I do not mind when the prime minister reads her scripts, but I do fault her for never learning anything," Mr Nipit said.
"The prime minister still reads scripts like she did two years ago and she refuses to answer reporters' questions.
"She does not try to use her own brain. If she's made any slight improvement, it's that she uses podiums to conceal her scripts and she looks up while reading them."
Mr Nipit also accused the prime minister of pushing for the amnesty bill to retrieve a 982-million-baht sum that is part of the 46-billion-baht amount that the Supreme Court confiscated from her elder brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for unusual wealth. He said that if the amnesty bill was passed, the unusual wealth case would be nullified and Ms Yingluck would receive the money.
In response, Ms Yingluck said that during the past two years in office she has overcome many problems with the government.
"For the remark that I lack knowledge and wisdom or in other words I am stupid, it is difficult to explain as whatever I say you [the opposition] will not believe me because we never work together," she said.
"But government officials and ministers who have worked with me know the answer well because we have used wisdom to solve problems together."