Thai PM faces critics in no-confidence debate

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's prime minister faces his critics in a no-confidence debate beginning Tuesday, as he defends his four-month-old government from claims of mismanagement and cronyism.

Samak Sundaravej took office after his People Power Party (PPP) comfortably won elections in December, ending more than a year of rule by royalist generals who overthrew premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.

Samak had openly campaigned as an ally of Thaksin who would replicate his policies in rural areas, but his intimacy with the self-made tycoon despised by the elite and middle classes helped ignite the recent crisis.

The opposition Democrat Party claims Samak is running Thailand on behalf of Thaksin, who is banned from politics, while protesters camped outside Government House say he is suppressing corruption cases against his predecessor.

Democrat MPs also intend to grill Samak and seven cabinet ministers over their handling of the economy, a deal with Cambodia over a disputed temple, the transparency of procurement of buses for the capital, and other issues.

"We want only to do our job of investigating the government," Democrat Party spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon told AFP.

"The investigation of a government's performance does not depend on how long they have been in office for. Once they show signs of corruption and inefficient work it's enough to lodge a no-confidence motion."

PPP spokesman Kudeb Saikrajang said Samak was confident going into the debate.

"He can answer any question because the government has done nothing wrong," Kudeb said. "This debate is an effort to link him with former premier Thaksin to destroy his reputation."

The debate will end with a no-confidence vote on Thursday, and Samak has vowed to step down if he loses.

This is a slim prospect, with Samak's six-party coalition dominating two-thirds of the 480-seat lower house, analysts say.

"The opposition doesn't have a large enough number of seats to make any difference, which reflects the fact they don't have the popular vote," said Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a politics professor at Chulalongkorn University.

Samak's toughest week yet began Monday with a debate before senators, nearly half of whom were appointed under the army-backed constitution.

The prime minister refuted charges that he was Thaksin's puppet, telling the Senate: "The members of our political parties may come from the same groups, but it's normal in Thai politics for people to change parties."

He also faces pressure from street protesters led by the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which brought 25,000 people to the gates of Samak's offices on Friday.

The PAD had led protests against Thaksin in the months before the coup, and its latest demonstrations have raised fears of a new coup, which has sent investors fleeing the Thai stock market.

Its rallies exert a strong influence because the leadership is seen as a reflection of the traditional power centres in the palace and the military.

Thaksin had antagonised Bangkok's elite with policies such as free healthcare that endeared him to Thailand's populous rural heartland.

Analysts say that even if Samak were somehow forced out of office, tensions would remain between the traditional elite and voters.

"Even if there is a house dissolution and a new election, the politics will resume the same road because the PPP will come back, a shadow of the Thaksin system, and the PAD will resume its action," said Somjai Phagaphasvivat, a political analyst at Thammasat University.