Will Thaksin ever give meaningful answers?
 The Nation
December 11, 2005 - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is enduring a severe test of his maximum tolerance with the weekly exposes of corrupt practices and a wide range of misdeeds by his former friend turned arch-rival Sondhi Limthongkul of Manager Media Group. On Friday a huge crowd once more showed up at Lumpini Park eager to hear more of Sondhi’s tantalising exposes of scandals in government and the families of politicians in power.
The rallies could one day snowball into a real challenge to Thaksin’s grip on power.
His ability to survive the regular onslaughts of scandals and acute embarrassment is very much in doubt.
The accusations launched at Thaksin and his political and business cronies have caused critical damage to the credibility and the image of the entire Cabinet and have far-reaching implications for the CEO’s family members.
Honour, dignity and pride have been shattered. Not that Thaksin and his crowd lack opportunities to respond to the charges. They have ready access to the state-controlled TV and radio stations that are at his disposal for propaganda, spin, soft sells and what not. The only problem is that they just don’t know what to say.
The damning allegations are backed up by documents given to Sondhi by civil servants whose consciences have been troubled by years of massive corruption and abuse of power during the Thaksin era. It’s also their turn to settle scores with politicians who have treated them like minions.
Sondhi’s offensive with hard-hitting accusations of blatant wrongdoing has been more than just a nuisance.
His rallies have become a real threat to the government’s stability and Thaksin’s own security and political future.
More and more, the eye-opening exposes of malpractice are convincing the public that the Thaksin regime should not be trusted any longer, especially when it comes to the taxpayers’ money, now the government’s coffers have been depleted.
The latest salvo by Sondhi on Friday focused on a shady deal involving the planned purchase of a squadron of Russian jet fighters, with Sondhi showing his audience at Lumpini Park, plus those tuning in on television and radio, how it stank with a kickback of Bt3.5 billion.
Thaksin and his cronies are in the spotlight, as usual. Moreover, Sondhi managed to further substantiate his earlier exposes involving the misuse of an Air Force C-130, which was used for a high-flying birthday party for Thaksin’s sister.
But four more damning issues still need to be cleared up. Full accounting is needed for:
l The proceeds and expenses relating to the government lottery designed to counter underground lotteries. There has been talk of slush funds from the proceeds for political and other questionable purposes.
l The flight records and passenger manifestos for Thaksin’s Air-Force-One-style Koo Fah jet.
l Donations collected by the government for tsunami victims.
l The eight persons implicated in the procurement of explosives-detection devices submitted by the US Attorney-General’s Office. Let’s see a list of who these people are.
These issues will not just cause Thaksin and his wife more sleepless nights.
The PM simply doesn’t know how to provide factual and sensible responses, owing to the obvious disregard for transparency and pure arrogance of power that characterises his government.
With his eloquence, Sondhi drove the crowd into a frenzy. If Thaksin and his people believe that they still have tight hold of the reins of government, it’s time they woke up and started to take the growing rallies and the demands for clear responses in a very serious manner.
Brushing them aside or using verbal gymnastics won’t work as they used to now that Thaksin’s sinking popularity and exploding corruption scandals have destroyed public confidence in the government.
Even the grass-roots people have become enlightened, partly by Sondhi and partly because of the pain their debts are causing.
What’s next? We’ll have to wait till the next rally, when Sondhi will surely bring up more juicy tales of corruption scandals and mischief-making implicating Thaksin’s cronies. The prime minister’s Thai Rak Thai Party is fractioning, with the heavyweight hotshots ready to jump ship.
If Thaksin once again fails to deliver any satisfactory answers to the charges, the list of questions will only be longer by the time Sondhi is done speaking next Friday. The people will soon begin to demand full accountability for all the wrongdoing.
A countdown to regime change may already be under way. If Thaksin survives, the country will not.
Sopon Onkgara |
