Bangkok Post: 20/05/2008
Do-nothing govt poses a major challenge
What does a shadow cabinet do when the real cabinet does nothing?
That was pretty much the situation over the past several months and particularly so in the last couple of weeks. We found it surprising that there is an apparent lack of urgency on the part of the government to address issues that are of the greatest concern to the general public.
To be honest, when you have an opponent that is so uninspired, it is a challenge to remain focused on the job. We talked about this in our most recent shadow cabinet meeting last Thursday and reflected on our lack of satisfaction with what we ourselves have achieved as a group so far.
The timing for this bit of retrospection was timely not least because Thursday was the last day of the current parliamentary session. In Parliament also, so little was achieved by the government for the first time in history, not one law was proposed for consideration. Also for the first time, and inspite of the overwhelming majority on the part of the government coalition, the Standing Committees designed to be the main platform for MPs to do their work, were not formed. This was entirely because People Power party members themselves could not agree on how to distribute the chairmanships amongst themselves.
As a result, first-time MPs have been left wondering what it's all about. How were they meant to do their jobs representing their electorate when Parliament refuses to function and the government, through the cabinet, is clearly dysfunctional?
There are many reasons why this is the case, the first of which is that this government was unprepared for the job. Frankly, it was obvious from their election policies a jumble of non-coherent ideas: remember the promise to increase incomes by four times and, even more remarkable given what has actually transpired, reduce costs by four times?
Second, there is a lack of trust amongst coalition partners. PPP MPs see themselves as first-class citizens defined by the fact that they remained loyal to Mr Thaksin throughout, in stark contrast to the new parties whose members jumped ship post-coup, and Chart Thai, which remain mere partners of convenience.
Finally, this government's main agenda is so obviously political and thus they have largely ignored the main task of putting the country on the right path and preparing the population for the economic challenges.
All in all, therefore, it has been a challenge for us in the Opposition to do justice to our role. It is clear that, given the circumstances, we must try even harder not to just be reactive (because there isn't much to react to).
There is a school of thought that says that the Opposition's role is to oppose, not to propose. However, this is clearly inappropriate with this government because someone needs to be setting the agenda for the country, and if the government is not willing to do it, the public will look to us to do so.
The main challenge we have set for ourselves, therefore, is to do just that: set the national agenda even if we are not yet in the position to put it into action.
In parallel to that, we do need to continue to put forward our views as to where the government is going wrong, and that is why we need to remain political as well, to a degree.
This is why you will see us raising our hands to oppose issues such as Khun Jakrapob's infamous speeches, which we see as divisive and a threat to our social and political system. This is why we continue to oppose attempts to amend the Constitution in a way that ignores the voices of the general public and with a result that serves narrow political interests, particularly in allowing these interests to circumvent the justice system.
Our role in the Opposition will not be limited to political issues. On the economy, the challenges are clear. In the agricultural sector there is the multiple challenge of low output prices and high cost of production. For low-wage earners, there are issues of the unaffordable cost of living and declining real income. In the meantime, we need to pressure the government to deliver on key structural issues for Thailand, especially those related to education, on which nothing has been heard, and logistics which remains at best haphazard. Most importantly we need to push for rational investment in the provision of water as a resource.
Then there is the issue of corruption. Here, our suspicion is that while a lot of distraction is being created, those intent on preparing a war chest are quietly preparing to execute. I made a call to the Ministry of Finance last week regarding their plans to negotiate for the acquisition of BTS, the Bangkok skytrain.
We have been opposed in principle to any attempt to nationalise a business that, though financially struggling, has consistently delivered a fine public service as required by their contractual agreement with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The cabinet approved a budget of 50 million baht to study the options and 56 billion baht was cited as the potential total cost of acquisition.
This is of great concern. No explanation of the public benefits of this use of taxpayers' money has been given, and of more concern is the amount of money cited.
BTS is currently in rehabilitation and has had its debt reduced from around 65 billion baht to 32 billion baht, with a requirement that the planner arranges for an equity injection of 12 billion baht which would be used to pay down debt, so that remaining debt is reduced to 20 billion baht. The new equity would then be equivalent to around 85% of total shares.
Readers will have worked out from this that all the government needs to spend to control BTS is to inject 12 billion baht in fresh equity while the company remains in rehab. There is absolutely no need to buy the debt, as they have been saying they would.
In the meantime, the planner has filed for the company to be released from rehabilitation so the window for the government will be closed in no more than a couple of months. After that, what we do not want to see is the government having to pay a premium to buy shares from whoever injects the 12 billion baht.
Taking the government at its word, if they were then to spend 56 billion baht for the acquisition of debt and equity, they would effectively be paying 34 billion baht for shares which they could be buying for 12 billion baht today. If that were to happen, I cannot help but wonder who the beneficiaries will be?
So, to answer my opening question of the role of the shadow cabinet, and indeed the Opposition as a whole, you can see that there is plenty to do. If the government is going to continue to disappoint, the task ahead for us at the Democrat Party is to step up to fill the gap. We are aware that we have yet to do so and, collectively, we will attempt to do just that.
Korn Chatikavanij