A new government legitimately formed under the constitution with a new prime minister acceptable to the majority of people may still face street protests after taking office, according to the result of an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on June 14-16 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country to compile their opinions on whether the new government would face street protests by people opposed to it.
Currently, eight political parties led by the Move Forward Party (MFP) are struggling to form a government with MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister.
Asked whether they thought the new government formed under the current constitution regardless of who is prime minister would face street protests, the answers were split.
Nearly half – 49.16% – of respondents believed there would be street protests, with 26.72% of them believing the protests would be non-violent and 22.44% saying there would be violence.
On the other side, 25.42% thought there would not be any protests at all and 25.19% were uncertain. The rest, 0.23%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they would accept a new government and new prime minister from a political party they did. not vote for, a majority, 55.50%, said yes – 38.63% whole-heartedly and 16.87% with resignation.
On the other side, 22.52% said they would oppose them but would not join street protests, while 7.02% said they would also join protests.
Of the rest, 14.43% said they would stay neutral and 0.53% had no answer or were not interested.
Asked for their biggest concerns if there are street protests against the new government, with each respondent allowed to pick more than one answer, the answers varied as follows:
• 56.87% said the economy would deteriorate
• 37.18% said the protests might be violent
• 32.98% said there would be conflict among people in the country
• 29.16% feared there might be a coup
• 21.45% said the protests could lead to violations of laws and other people's rights
• 18.63% said the protests would cause traffic congestion
• 12.21% said there may be external interference
• 3.82% said they were not worried at all
• 1.98% had no answer or were not interested