Thumbs down for govt's performance

"The only concrete action that the government has taken was creating huge public debt, seeking loans and harassing ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra,'' Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said.

The party's report card on the Abhisit administration gave it failing marks in economic, social and security - including foreign - policies, he said.

A Bangkok poll had earlier shown that respondents were not satisfied with the government's work, giving it a score of four out of 10.

Prompong said the party's evaluation showed that the government's economic policies failed miserably to eradicate poverty, reduce debt problems and avert the fall in prices of farm produce. It gave the government three out of 10 for economic performance.

On the social front, the government has done a poor job in reducing crime, drugs and the spread of the 2009 influenza that has so far killed seven people, he said.

Security-wise, the government was helpless in curbing the violence in the South even though the restive region is the Democrats' stronghold.

In foreign affairs, the government was acting "double faced" by having Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti lodge a complaint in Spain against Cambodia's bid to register Phrae Vihea as a Word Heritage Site, but when the government talked to foreign countries, it said it had no problem with the move by Cambodia.

In the political sphere, the government was not sincere about fixing the flaws in the Constitution. While other parties called on the committee on reconciliation to amend Article 237, which dissolves parties and bans their executives for five years, by deleting it completely, the Democrats want to retain the ban on party executive boards, he said.

Chaturon Chaisang, a leader of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, cited the Democrats' lack of managerial competence as the main reason for the government's dismal record.

"The party has not ruled the country for a long time and does not put the right man in the right place. It does not have control of important ministries. The ruling party also does not have a mandate over coalition parties because it depends too much on them,'' he said.

Implementation of the government's economic stimulus package was delayed and an effective checking mechanism was not established to guard against corruption, causing the public to grow suspicious about government projects, he said.

The government was also incapable of arresting the country's deepening divisions because it practices double standards in the justice system, he said.

The Pheu Thai's MPs are planning to visit Thaksin to wish him a happy 60th birthday on July 16, when they would also seek his advice on problems of the poor, he added.