One hundred and forty one days and counting

At the 100-day mark, according to the Gallup Poll, US President Obama earned kudos from almost all sections of American society. Beyond extensive support from Democrats and minorities, Obama got his highest ratings from low-income Americans, the young, Easterners, postgraduates, Catholics, Protestants, Muslim and Jews.

Internationally, Obama has achieved something of a celebrity status. He appears to be even more popular around the world than his home court. After the perceived disastrous foreign policies, especially in the Middle East, during the Bush administration, the world was ready to embrace the man who promised change that people could believe in. Upon taking office, he began delivering on his promises.

As President Obama's success and popularity rode high both at home and abroad on his 100th day in the White House, the 100th day in office for our prime minister went by unnoticed. These days, no news is good news. Unscrupulous methods have been used in settling scores, political and otherwise; it is understandable why people are weary about keeping score.

But keeping score we must, not for the sake of being fastidious, but to gain perspective and to appreciate. Most importantly, we take stock of the past to chart our future, to be able to see beyond our nose and try to make the future better than the past, if not for ourselves, then for our children.

Our prime minister - whose credentials, track record and integrity would make decent citizens of any country proud to have him as their leader - has been in constant battles politically and economically. He has taken an unrelenting beating from the get go, from all directions. But he has shown his mettle and grace under pressure. Friend or foe, one thing is clear to all - he is not one to be taken for a ride.

Thailand was at a precarious juncture when Abhisit took office on December 17, 2008. Politically, we were and still are in one big mess. The country has become more divisive than at any time we have seen in the recent past, and the divisive players are still hard at work spreading creeds for their own agenda that will further widen the divides. Economically, the country has suffered doubly through internal political turmoil that has rendered our life anything but normal, and a global economic meltdown that severely diminishes our foreign exchange earnings from exports, tourism and direct foreign investments. Without these external incomes, the economy is under threat of collapsing over time. Indeed and in all, we are a country in crisis.

It is a Herculean task for the 27th prime minister to get the country from under the rubble we have collectively created. But did he succeed to some extent during his first 100 days?

To a jaded person like me who has been around politicians of all stripes for almost all my adult life, this prime minister offers a breath of fresh air. He does not posture, does not brag, does not complain, does not do hyperbole, does not lie. If anybody cares to look, he has been trying his mightiest to restore the TRUST of the people in their government and their leader and the rule of law. Trustworthiness has nothing to do with repeating the mantra "trust me" for the nth time, but by showing an example of it - and people must have an open eye to see it.

Integrity is an abstract term in English that has an equivalent in Thai - a combination of several words and not just one. So far, our prime minister has demonstrated that quality.

The public never knew that during the Songkran riots, a group of red shirts stood in front of his house in Bangkok hurling lewd and vulgar obscenities at his wife and children, who they thought were in the house while the prime minister was in Pattaya. He did not complain about the incident to the public and did not try to make an issue of it to gain sympathy for his personal pain. We never heard him recount his deeds during his visit to his alma mater of Oxford and was confronted by Jai Ungpakorn. He never told the public what a superb job he did of explaining the logic behind the much-criticised lese majeste law in a matter-of-fact and honest manner that cut down his interrogator to size, and earned a hearty round of applause from an amazed and stunned audience. The best of minds - always critical to a fault - they would have jumped on him had they found a hole or a lapse in his logic. Time and again he has defended the blue colour of our flag without dragging the institution down to the level of dirty politics. He is not doing it for lip service or personal gain; he does it because he believes it to be the right and fair thing to do. He does not get angry when people erroneously claim that he "rode to office unelected". Let truth be told, this prime minister was elected under the same constitution to the same House that elected Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat as prime ministers.

Thailand's economy is in shambles and there is no quick fix. Even Obama tells the American public to expect a worse situation before things start to get well again. The Thai government has been trying very hard to find the right formula for the economic ills, but so far it has been stumbling along, so tangled up with the problems at hand that it fails to see the way of the future. China is taking the opportunity that the economic problems have brought to retool its economy. It is looking beyond today's problems and sees the economic powerhouse that it aspires to be five years from now. It is not too late for Thailand to begin looking to the future, which unfortunately is not here.

In 1999, Aharon Barak, a law professor and former president of the Supreme Court of Israel, who was called by legal scholars "the greatest living jurist" said, "Although democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand." It is evident that the prime minister has been fighting with one hand tied behind his back, but it is not clear if he has the upper hand. One can be sarcastic by saying that it is only in Hollywood movies that the good wins over the bad. But that sarcasm leads us nowhere. The prime minister has given us his all and his best; he deserves our helping hand.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - "It is noble to give your life for your fatherland" - need not be a lie.