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Published on October 7, 2007

This time round, he has ex-junta chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin as his second in command. Whether the duo can fulfil the people's hopes for stable politics depends on what they have in mind.

One wonders what Sonthi can achieve by playing second fiddle after ending up with low ratings after a year spent holding comprehensive power. It also depends on what tasks he is assigned related to national security.

Both have been viewed as half-hearted in their attempts to get rid of the remnants of Thaksin Shinawatra's regime. Not only have they failed to uproot the old powers, they have allowed them to regroup and strengthen for another possible grab at power through big money and political nominees.

The prime minister already has his hands full with difficult tasks. Yet, he sees himself as a retired Army general with unlimited potential, which is why he has assumed the post of interior minister to oversee the upcoming elections.

Is this because he does not trust anybody else or because a qualified candidate would not want to take on the difficult mission for fear that the chief himself would not be supportive?

With five Cabinet members out following questions over shareholdings in private firms, no replacements have been made. The prime minister simply assigned those remaining to take charge, as he did, to avoid the harder task of convincing others to fill the slots.

The overall results of the Surayud government's term have been far below public expectations. Now that there are fewer people and more jobs, it could be too much for us to hope for something substantively useful to the country. Regarded as chair-warmers who could not get their priorities right, some of those who resigned must have heaved a big sigh of relief.

Resigning out of self-respect over the shareholding uproar must have been a good excuse to get off the ineffective team rather than continuing on in the job and bearing more embarrassment. The prime minister refuses to resign despite a controversy over his landholdings.

Surayud may have good wishes in that he wants to host a general election with no serious hiccups. After all, business people might want to risk what is to come rather than have to bear with a lame-duck team with no real sense of mission.

Politicians would naturally love to see the general election take place on December 23 as scheduled. That's why they have not been pushing the prime minister to let somebody else take charge. After all, the task of rebuilding the nation remains unfinished.

Well, this is the prime minister's last chance to undo the harm of having not done what was expected of him. For Sonthi, it will be a probationary period to determine whether he is fit for politics, which will be far murkier with the present team.

This on-the-job training will let the people judge his leadership capacity, visionary zeal and whether he has what is required for gutter politics, which is still messy with politicians engaging in power rivalries and self-serving acts.

What people see on the political front, and the choices on offer, does not inspire confidence in the future. It is quite likely that we will remain stuck in a vicious cycle with the same old faces running for House seats under new party banners.

Big money will determine election results, as political pundits believe. Thaksin's nominee party stands a strong chance of winning a large number of seats due to established connections and a solid base in rural areas, with grass-roots voters expecting more populist plans.

During the past year, some degree of political and educational reforms, which the people had expected, failed to materialise. These two factors are significant for our politics. Surely, these reforms could not be carried out in such a short period after several decades of pork-barrel politics. The sad part is that there was not even a good try.

Our doddering education minister engaged in something else not on the urgent agenda of the government. He did not want to heed advice from critics and persisted in doing what he deemed suitable, while other Cabinet members were left out, despite the fact that educational reforms are long overdue.

Let's hope that the few months prior to the election will see a strong performance from the prime minister and his Cabinet.

If they have real conviction and a sense of responsibility for the country's future, they must give it another try.

The alternative is that they will go down in history as the most promising team with the most failures. They would have to spend the rest of their days with guilty consciences, or not - depending on what the people will allow.

Judging from the government's past performance, it is strongly advised that we make room for disappointment.

Sopon Onkgara