The land scandal involving Palang Pracharath MP for Ratchaburi Pareena Kraikupt leads the top five most interesting political issues in the news, followed by the possible dissolution of the Future Forward Party, according to an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was conducted Dec 10-14 on 1,271 people across the country. The respondents were allowed to give more than one answer.
Asked to name the five most interesting political issues, 62.18% cited the legal case involving Ms Pareena's occupation of 682 rai of land in Ratchaburi province, saying it was questionable even though the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) said it has no authority to take legal action against her after she agreed to hand over the land to the state. The respondents said the case is interesting to them as it reflects problems over corruption and misuse of state power in the country.
The second most interesting political issue, cited by 52.96% of the respondents, is the case against the Future Forward Party (FFP) after the Election Commission (EC) filed a petition with the Constitutional Court, asking it to dissolve the party on the grounds that its executives illegally accepted cash or donations of 191.2 million baht from party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who was disqualified as MP last month. The respondents said the EC's action might be political persecution and couldcause wider political conflict if the FFP is disbanded.
The third most interesting political issue, cited by 22.44%, was the government's policies to solve economic problems. They said the policies should not be too populist and were also concerned by the government's handling of requests for approvals of various mega-projects.
The fourth most interesting issue, as mentioned by 19.39% of the respondents, was reports of MPs switching parties. They said MPs should concentrate on their work for the country instead of seeking personal gain.
Rounding out the top five, 15.79% said they were interested in the current move to amend the constitution. They did not want the constitution to be used to perpetuate power, cause further division and restrict the people's rights and liberties.