Coalition allies attack govt

Somsak Thepsuthin and Newin Chidchob, two heavyweights in the coalition Bhum Jai Thai Party, yesterday heavily criticised the way the Democrat-led government was dealing with problems.

It was the latest sign of an increasingly damaging rift within the coalition government amidst a rocky relationship between the two largest partners, the Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties.

The two veteran politicians are under a ban from contesting elections but have retained much influence in the Bhum Jai Thai Party, which is the second largest partner in the Democrat-led coalition.

Somsak, the leader of Bhum Jai Thai's Matchima Thipataya faction, vented his frustration with the Democrat Party, criticising the government for poor management.

He said he wanted to see the government survive for a long time but after five months in office it had not made any achievements because it had been trying to block projects proposed by coalition parties.

"It is not fair, because when we have plans they get rejected by the Cabinet, then the coalition parties are hurt,'' he said.

Somsak said the government did not have any strategy or planning behind its management but spent its time solving problems as they cropped up, such as the pledging of agricultural produce and the bus-leasing scheme.

He added that the government would not need to subsidise any agricultural produce if it planned well enough to prevent oversupply.

"The country has three main crops, rice, maize and tapioca. They are mutually replaceable. If tapioca is used for producing ethanol, maize and rice can be made into animal feed; then we will not have oversupply and the government will not need any pledging scheme,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Newin yesterday criticised the government's decision to change the method of rice pledging, saying the change would cost the state a huge loss. He said rice traders could unite to push prices below the state guarantee, causing the government to shoulder a 100-per-cent financial burden.

He suggested that the government solve the problem of poor prices for farm produce by offering farmers contracts, a method successful in other countries.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai, who is Bhum Jai Thai secretary-general, expressed support for the idea of contract farming, which she said would ensure good prices for farm produce in addition to preventing a large surplus of output.

The Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties last month locked horns over a government plan to sell the maize stockpile.

The row, seen as a first sign of cracks within the coalition, resulted in the commerce minister relinquishing control of the stockpile to a Democrat overseer.

Porntiva put forward a proposal to sell the Bt2-billion maize stockpile, but |the Cabinet decided to assign Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu to oversee the stockpile after some Cabinet members questioned the transparency of the sale. She was close to tears after a clash with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during discussion of the matter.