Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday criticised the regime's economic management, especially its raft of schemes to help stimulate the economy.
Mr Abhisit said he was worried about the fiscal discipline of the authorities after witnessing the Prayut government roll out a series of projects aimed at boosting the economy. Mr Abhisit said some of these measures had not been a success while several others seemed to be targeted at specific groups rather than the public at large.
"Their cost-effectiveness is doubtful when compared with large sums of state money used in these schemes," Mr Abhisit told the media yesterday.
The Democrat leader called on the junta government to review its handling of economic affairs and make changes in budget disbursement to maintain fiscal responsibility. Mr Abhisit, a former prime minister, said he wondered whether taxpayers' money was being well spent and if the schemes were designed to pull votes ahead of the poll. Among them is a project by the Prime Minister's Office to spend seven million baht on creating an official Line account complete with unique stickers.
The project was reportedly initiated by the government spokesman's office as a channel to communicate with the people.
Mr Abhisit urged the government to figure out if this channel of communications would be effective, saying it was not the first time the regime had spent public money on a mobile messaging app.
In December 2014, the regime launched a controversial project in which it also spent about seven million baht creating stickers promoting the 12 core values on the Line chat app. "I never received those stickers and I have no idea if it was worth the investment. It is the public's money and I wonder how 'Hello' or 'Thank you' stickers can help spread useful information about the government's work," he said.
Asked about frequent visits by government figures to the provinces ahead of the general election, Mr Abhisit said there was nothing wrong with it if the trips were part of a plan to assess policy implementation.
"It would soon become obvious if the government was just trying to woo voters rather than doing its job properly," said Mr Abhisit.
Mr Abhisit also expressed concerns about the use of Section 44 powers to address political issues such as amending the party law and removing a member of the Election Commission (EC). He said it would be a setback for the country if independent agencies and election mechanisms were perceived to be vulnerable to interference by those in power.