Ex-Thai PM: Junta must engage with people for reforms

By Max Constant

BANGKOK

The leader of the political party most closely affiliated with Thailand's junta has stressed the need for the military to “engage people” if the reforms it promised upon seizing power two years ago are to be successful.

The Democrat Party’s Abhisit Vejjajiva -- who served as prime minister from 2008 to 2011 -- told Anadolu Agency in an interview Thursday that the military “are too afraid to allow widespread engagement”.

“There is conservatism in the military thinking, but the problem is that you cannot really implement reforms and changes unless you engage people,” he said.

Referring to a recent ban on the public expression of opinion before an Aug. 7 vote on a military-sponsored draft charter, he added, “even in the case of the referendum on the constitution… they are so obsessed from the possible instability from just campaigning”.

“But clearly if you want reforms, you have to have different ideas, you have to have exchanges and then you have to set a common vision that people want to pursue,” he underlined.

After overthrowing the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra on May 22, 2014, the military had promised to implement broad reforms aimed at eradicating corruption among politicians and establishing a more stable political system.

The draft constitution, which was written by a junta-appointed committee of legal experts and is expected to pave the way for elections in late 2017, however, has been widely criticized.

Politicians, academics and activists have warned that the document would allow the military to perpetuate its power through indirect methods, particularly an appointed senate and possibly a non-elected prime minister.

“The problem is that reforms take time and are by nature inherently difficult,” Vejjajiva, who has previously expressed concern over the draft charter, told Anadolu Agency. “Unless you have a strong will from the part of the public to go with it, you are going to run into opposition.”

Despite his criticism of the junta -- officially named the National Council for Peace and Order and led by Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha -- Vejjajiva credited the military with restoring order after months of demonstrations leading to the 2014 coup.

“People are not satisfied with the general state of the economy. But at the same time you can also feel the sentiment of quite a lot of people that there is at last stability and that they can get on with their life without the protests,” said Vejjajiva -- an economist by training.

He also expressed confidence that the military would not indefinitely hang on to power due to commitment to their stated objective of bringing back democracy.

“They have insisted on following their road map, which means to go back to elections next year,” he insisted.

Despite all his confidence, however, Vejjajiva -- who entered politics at the beginning of the 1990s -- also expressed doubts about whether the military would stand aside and return to the barracks after elections.

“There will be attempts on their part to try to retain some control because of their fears about instability,” he said.

Critics consider the draft charter to be one such tool for continuing to exert control on the government as it will grant the military the authority to appoint all 250 senate members -- that is, if it passes the referendum.

The charter also cements in place a 20-year national strategy committee that will be entitled to survey government policies and have them changed if they diverge from reforms envisioned by the junta.

Oxford-educated Vejjajiva nonetheless stressed that if the public and politicians focus on the draft charter’s details, they could end up foregoing the “bigger picture”.

Describing Thailand’s economy and society as having reached “the limits of the old model of success” and being economically “caught in the so-called middle-income trap”, he underlined the need for “new thinking” to revive the economy.

“This requires structural changes politically and in terms of policies to address these challenges,” he said. “And unless we recognize and make a move on this, we will continue to be stuck.”