Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has posed another six questions for the people to answer, including the need for a new political party, his National Council for Peace and Order's right to support a political party, and if the NCPO has done well.
Gen Prayut, who is also the NCPO chief, posed the questions through the mass media at a media conference on Wednesday, and asked people to give their answers to the government's nationwide Damrongtham complaint centres.
The questions and his elaborations are as follows.
1. Do we need a new political party and new politicians as choices for the people in the next election? Will a government by the same old political parties and old politicians lead to national reform and the continuous implementation of national strategies?
2. Has the NCPO the right to support a political party? This is because the prime minister has no right to run in an election.
3. Do people see a good future for the nation from what the NCPO has done over the three years? Do people agree with the government's efforts to tackle long-standing national problems with immediate, medium-term and long-term solutions? Gen Prayut cited illegal fishing and aviation standards as examples.
For the third question, Gen Prayut also asked if a government should implement not only its own policies and take care of its constituents, but also implement national strategies.
4. Is it right to compare the formation of past governments with that of the present government? Gen Prayut also asked if his government took office after seeing the people were divided in support of political objectives.
5. Did democratically elected governments in the country prove their efficiency, good governance and ability to develop the nation clearly and adequately?
6. Why are politicians actively distorting information to discredit the NCPO, the government and the prime minister?
Gen Prayut refused to answer the question: was he sounding out public opinion on the possibility of the NCPO forming a political party? He left his podium at Government House immediately posing the six questions.
He had earlier posed four questions in May for people to answer through Damrongtham centres.
The questions were roundly criticised as an attempt to gather public support for the regime to stay on in power. The questions were:
1. Do you think the next election will bring a government with good governance?
2. What should be done if it fails to do so?
3. Elections are an important element of democracy. Is it right to [give importance to] elections alone without consideration for the country's future such as national strategy and reform?
4. Do you think political groups with inappropriate behaviour deserve a chance to run in elections? If they are [elected], who should solve the problem and how?
As of September, about 1 million people gave answers.