Popularity is a fragile thing, Abhisit warns Thaskin
 The Nation
November 27 , 2005 - Opposition Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to adjust his style of leadership instead of steering the country into crisis. “The Thaksin government should not place too much confidence in its majority, because history shows that a popular uprising can drive out a legitimate government,” he said.
Abhisit was referring to the bickering between Thaksin and his critic Sondhi Limthongkul, who has attracted a large crowd to his mobile talk shows for 10 consecutive weeks.
Thaksin owes it to the public to mend his flaws before it is too late, Abhisit said.
Less than nine months ago, the government won a landslide victory to secure an unprecedented 377 out of 500 House seats, he said, adding that now the number of dissatisfied people was growing at an alarming rate.
“In his first four-year term Thaksin misled the people into false hopes of a full economic recovery,” he said.
The public sentiment started to shift against the government in its second term when much economic turbulence, particularly the soaring price of oil, exposed the fragility of the economy, he said.
“The 19 million votes cast for the Thai Rak Thai party were not a reflection of Thaksin as an honest and ethical leader but a glimmer of hope that Thaksin would usher in prosperity,” Abhisit said.
The public wanted speedy results, which Thaksin failed to deliver in spite of his overwhelming majority, he said, and the southern violence, to which Thaksin appears to have no ready solution, and many graft scandals have fuelled the public wrath.
“Thaksin should heed his lesson that it is a futile exercise to form a powerful government by tampering with democratic principles and governmental checks and balances,” he said.
“Regardless of how much money and power he has, Thaksin cannot govern if the host of his opponents keeps on growing.”
To defuse the looming crisis, Thaksin should, he said, quickly remove conditions that fan the simmering tension, including his exclusion of the public in decision-making and his attempts to involve the monarchy in political rivalry. |
