Prayut warns political parties
published : 23 Jan 2019 at 08:30
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Aekarach Sattaburuth
With a date yet to be fixed for the coming general election, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Tuesday he would consider joining any party that does not abandon the policies set in motion by the current government.
"But a political party must invite me [to join] first. Whether I would accept the invitation is another story," he said.
"If I decide to stay on [in politics] to carry on the work, I will need to subscribe to a party which is dedicated, truly selfless and determined to change the country for the better, not one which seeks to undo everything this government has started. That would be a waste of time," the prime minister said.
Gen Prayut said he would have to decide if he wanted to remain in politics and if so, how and what he must do to realise his future undertakings.
He added he has not been approached by the pro-regime Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) to join it.
The PPRP has made it known Gen Prayut is among its first choice of prime ministerial candidates to be nominated for a vote in parliament after the poll.
The premier said the government has achieved much during its four years in power, and that these achievements have all been compiled in a book that has yet to be released.
Future governments are free to improve on these policies and laws where needed but they should not abolish them, Gen Prayut said. The laws include those on budget expenditure and anti-corruption measures related to rice schemes.
Gen Prayut said he has received over 200 complaints about how some parties are preparing for the poll and that they will all be looked into.
Speaking Tuesday after the cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut talked politics, and talked tough.
He first warned political parties to ensure promises made during their election campaigns do not break the laws governing state expenditure - meaning laws on finance and budget spending.
But then he opened up with strong political speech and warnings.
Political parties should not keep criticising what the government has been doing while making election promises they cannot keep, he said.
Learn from listening
Vocabulary
- achievement: something very good and difficult that you have succeeded in doing - การบรรลุผลสำเร็จ
- approach: to move toward someone and speak to them about something - เข้าหา
- complaint: when someone says that something is wrong or not satisfactory - การบ่น, ข้อที่ไม่พอใจ
- corruption (n): dishonest or illegal behaviour, especially of people in authority -
- criticise: to say that you disapprove of somebody/something; to say what you do not like or think is wrong about somebody/something - วิจารณ์, ติเตียน,จับผิด
- dedicated (adj): spending much time and effort on something - อุทิศให้
- determined: wanting to do something very much and not letting anyone or any difficulties stop you - ตั้งใจจริง, ซึ่งมุ่งมั่น
- expenditure: money spent by a government, organization, or person - การใช้จ่าย (เงิน)
- invitation: a written or spoken request asking someone to meet you or to do something with you - คำเชิญ
- nominate (verb): to formally propose someone for a job, an award, etc. - เสนอชื่อ
- selfless (adj): thinking more about the needs, happiness, etc. of other people than about your own - ซึ่งไม่เห็นแก่ตัว, ซึ่งคำนึงถึงผู้อื่นก่อน
- undertaking: something difficult that you do - ภาระกิจ
- Keywords
- political parties
- political
- government
- laws
