BANGKOK, April 15 – The opposition Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to improve her top job performance with more decisive action.
In appraising the premier’s nine-month performance, the former prime minister said Ms Yingluck should be more focused and stop running the country without direction.
“Over the past nine months, it was clearly seen that the premier’s role was limited in particular from making decisions on almost key political issues,” Abhisit pointed out. “It is tantamount to having a leader who could not communicate with her people on the country’s important issues. Her administration appeared to be directionless and irresponsible.”
He singled out the premier’s frequent absences from parliamentary sessions as inappropriate and unaccountable for the people.
“Following the Songkran holiday, I would like to see the premier as a truly democratically-elected leader with social responsibility. Don’t overly rely on political advisers but be more focused and work to her best ability based on righteousness,” Mr Abhisit advised.
The Democrat Party leader viewed that political and economic risk factors still persisted, in particular rising cost of living and inflation which remains a major threat amid fragile global economy. If the government insisted on pressing ahead with politically sensitive issues, he warned that could lead to conflicts which threaten political stability and that would likely impact the economy. Any economic mismanagement would adversely affect political stability, therefore both the economy and politics should be amended accordingly.
In a related development, an opinion poll conducted by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University found that 36 percent of 2,249 respondents wanted the see the government achieving national reconciliation for the sake of national interest, rather than personal gains or for its allies’ interest.
Regarding the role of the opposition, 35.1 per cent suggested that the opposition should stop trying to hamstring the government in every issue, while 30.71 per cent urged the opposition to bear in mind national and public interests, and another 16 per cent thought that the opposition should jointly work out with the government to find a formula for national reconciliation.
The survey was conducted among people from all walks of life between April 9-14.
