Coalition tight, small Thai parties say

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SPECIAL
Coalition tight, small parties say
Hataikarn Treesuwan
The Nation



No signs of splintering despite govt's recent rocky ride

BANGKOK: -- At a juncture when the Yingluck Shinawatra government has been rocked to its core by a barrage of problems and claims of corruption in the loss-making rice-pledging scheme, five junior coalition parties have made it abundantly clear they will not desert the ruling Pheu Thai Party.

Their commitment to toe the line is as strong and their allegiance as fierce as when the government's popularity was at its peak.

The five parties have ruled out withdrawing support from the coalition administration, although pollsters say people believe the ricepledging scheme is marred by massive graft, which has caused the downfall of many governments.

The 35 MPs from five parties comprise 19 from Chart Thai Pattana, seven from Chart Pattana, seven from Palang Chon, one from New Democracy and one from Mahachon. They were the crucial 35 MPs who helped Pheu Thai form a 300-MP coalition.

Former agriculture minister Somsak Prissanananthakul was among key men in three small parties who gave The Nation perspectives on the government's major populist policy, which may turn out to be a time-bomb that spells a premature demise for the government.

Somsak said Chart Thai Pattana, which oversees the Agriculture Ministry, has been overlooked.

"I don't understand why the ministry has been pushed out of the circle - we have not played any part in the scheme,'' he said.

After Cabinet resolved on June 9 to slash the rice-pledging price to Bt12,000 a tonne, Somsak said his intuition was that the government was going to face major protests. So he and party chief adviser Banharn Silapa-Archa asked Deputy PM Kittiratt Na-Ranong to postpone the decision until the next harvest.

"The decision will not only shatter farmers' dreams but give them a hard time," he said.

Even though Chart Thai Pattana was not responsible for the price cut, its popularity is likely to be hit hard as its stronghold is the Central region, which is the country's rice bowl. Besides grumbling, Somsak appealed to Pheu Thai to give his party more input into the decision.

Chart Thai Pattana is not going to take any drastic steps to pressure the ruling party, even though Pheu Thai cannot lead a government without its 19 seats. "Betrayal is not our way,'' he said.

Chart Thai Pattana's deputy leader, Prapat Limpaphan, threw his weight behind the scheme, saying it would greatly enhance farmers' quality of life even though he expected from the beginning it would be a loss-making operation.

"The government just has to clear graft allegations,'' he said.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Kunplome of the Palangchon Party said he visited farms in Chon Buri to distribute the government's rice-planting manual, explaining to farmers in his constituency about the need to slash the rice-pledging price after Yingluck said she "was so restless she could not eat or sleep''.

Critics are sceptical that Sonthaya moved in support of Pheu Thai. It was more likely he feared the party was going to bring in seven MPs from the Matchima faction of the opposition Bhum Jai Thai Party and kick his party out.

Yet, coalition parties believe they will survive anti-government moves that evolved from the "Thai Spring" to the present white mask and farmer protests. "The government will be alright as long as it doesn't let small problems snowball into big ones,'' Somsak said.


-- The Nation 2013-07-02

[Robby nz]

The budget bit says it all.

We will stick with them as long as the money flows in our direction.

[Ricardo]

No, No, they support PM-Yingluck and the PTP's leadership, because they really do care about the poor people ...

[MILT]

Blatant worries of staying in the money flow. Allegations of rice graft? Standard of living for the rice farmers? Rocky road ahead but no worries? Thailand is to hot to make snowballs so no worries. In the mean time....................................Red democracy on the rise? Promises promises.

[Bagwan]

"The government will be alright as long as it doesn't let small problems snowball into big ones,'' Somsak said.