POLITICS : Abhisit assails govt policies
Following through will be key to trust
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called on the government to ensure sound implementation of its policy promises.
The Pheu Thai-led government needs to implement all the policies it announced during the election campaign.
"We politicians have been criticised by the public. We have a bad image. People always say politicians do not keep their promises," said Mr Abhisit, adding that if the public believed the government was failing to keep its promises, it could lead to problems for the country's democracy.
Prime Minister Yingluck read out her government's 44-page policy statement to parliament yesterday morning. She said her government would create a strong foundation for the Thai economy, society, and political environment.
She said that due to global economic forces, Thailand was in a restructuring period on many fronts.
Her government's three main policies, which she said would be flexible, were to lead the country to a balanced and strong economy, bring about reconciliation and create an equal society, and prepare for the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
National reconciliation is among the most pressing strategies and needs to be implemented during her first year in office.
Mr Abhisit urged the new government to clarify where and when the daily minimum wage would be lifted to 300 baht.
Mr Abhisit said the minimum wage increase might trigger a massive migration of workers from neighbouring countries and provincial areas to Bangkok. At the same time, business operators in Bangkok could opt to relocate their production bases out of the capital.
Mr Abhisit said it would cost the government 100 billion baht to implement its plan to boost the entry-level salary of new college graduates with bachelor's degrees to 15,000 baht a month starting with state workers.
The government should detail how it will pay the higher salaries.
The former prime minister expressed concern over the implementation of the government's anti-narcotics policy, saying that it would be hard to address the problems in one year as promised.
He also said the government should first study the old Thaksin administration's "war against drug" policy, which left more than 2,500 people dead.
Mr Abhisit urged the government to continue Democrat-initiated property tax laws and community title deeds policies.
On the suspension of the State Oil Fund levy collection, Mr Abhisit questioned how the government would manage the cooking gas and compressed natural gas sectors, which currently benefit from Oil Fund subsidies. He also questioned what the government's plan is if the Oil Fund runs dry.
In response, Ms Yingluck said the Oil Fund policy was proposed because the cost of living was so high and the party had to find a way to help consumers.
Ms Yingluck, who did not speak after she finished reading the policy statement in the morning, also refuted opposition allegations that she would work for only one person (ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra].
"Voters won't allow me to work for only one person," she said.
She also defended the policy to give tax breaks to first-time home buyers, as it would help low-income earners to have their own homes. She said the policy was not floated to help property developers as the Democrats claimed.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said the government would implement its policies with transparency.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who is supervising the new government's anti-narcotic policies, said the new government would certainly not get involved in extrajudicial killing as alleged by Mr Abhisit. He would instead opt to use lenient and lawful measures against drug suspects.
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