| Home > South-East Asia >> Thailand | |
New Thai PM outlines program under Thaksin's long shadow
Reuters - August 23, 2011
In a televised two-day debate, Thailand's first female prime minister and her government will face tough questions over its populist programs and ties to Thaksin, a billionaire former telecommunications tycoon overthrown in a 2006 military coup who lives in Dubai to escape a jail term for corruption.
Yingluck, a 44-year-old political novice barely known to the public four months ago, said her priority was to stabilize the economy and boost incomes with policies ranging from corporate tax cuts to debt relief for farmers, village development funds, lower fuel prices and tablet PCs for 800,000 school students.
"We will administrate the country with honesty and efficiency to bring the country toward prosperity, reconciliation and justice," she said during an address.
That may be easier said than done. She has faced a turbulent two weeks in office, bombarded by questions about a possible amnesty or constitutional amendments that would help Thaksin return home without going to jail – a prospect that could trigger legal challenges and revive an anti-Thaksin protest movement.
The debate offers her a chance to assert her independence and shake criticisms she is a mere stand-in for her brother, who transformed Thai politics by courting the poor and scoring landslide election wins in 2001 and 2005 before he was felled by corruption charges he says were politically motivated.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Thaksin dismissed assertions his sister was a simple proxy and said he wouldn't meddle in her government.
"She has her own right and leadership to run the country... Whenever she needs advice, she calls me, I give her advice, that's all," Thaksin said. "I act like an encyclopaedia... she can feel free to open it she can close it any time. That's it."
Asked about his possible return, he said he would hold off until Thailand's rival political factions find peace. "I don't want to fuel any more conflict. I just want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem."
Thaksin is at the heart of a polarizing five-year crisis marked by sometimes violent street protests in a conflict that broadly pits Thaksin, his business allies and his mostly lower-class "red shirt" supporters against the army's top brass, a conservative elite and a royalist, urban middle-class.
About 400 red shirts massed outside parliament in support of Yingluck as some 100 rival anti-Thaksin protesters gathered to submit a letter to the house chairman urging him to ensure the government does not amend the constitution or craft policies that benefit the Shinawatra family.
The government took the unusual step of asking the opposition not to refer to Thaksin during the two-day debate, saying it would be irrelevant.
Thaksin's decision to visit Japan this week, and the government's alleged role in securing a visa for him, have put Yingluck in a tight spot. Opposition politicians sharply criticized the visa, calling Thaksin a fugitive from justice.
The previous government stripped him of his Thai passport. He is known to travel on passports issued by Nicaragua and Montenegro after being granted citizenship in both countries.
Yingluck's Puea Thai Party swept to power in a landslide election win on July 3 with a program that tapped her brother's support among the rural and urban poor by offering a big rise in wages and better rice prices for farmers.
Thaksin promoted a similar brand of populism, or what became known as "Thaksinomics," pumping billions of dollars into Thailand's rural economy to stimulate consumption, creating a Keynesian multiplier effect.
Under Thaksin, money funneled into villages through a debt moratorium for farmers and cheap loans had a knock-on effect on the whole economy, fueling a boom in household spending.
Data on Monday showed the economy, Southeast Asia's second biggest, contracted in the second quarter from the first, buttressing the government's argument for aggressive stimulus spending and income support.
Even so, some economists say a huge, abrupt increase in the minimum wage and other aspects of the program could accelerate inflation and put small firms out of business.
There are also concerns that Thailand's ratio of debt as a proportion of total economic output could exceed 60 percent, generally regarded as the safe limit for developed economies, although the current level of 42 percent gives the government some leeway on spending. A row is brewing with the central bank as the government is putting pressure on it to hold down interest rates after eight increases in a year, taking the policy rate to 3.25 percent.
See also:
 |