 |
| Pridiyathorn Devakula, deputy prime minister |
ข่าวร้าย หม่อมอุ๋ยให้สัมภาษณ์ The Financial Times บอกถ้าการผ่านร่างรธน.ใหม่ติดขัดแม้เพียงเล็กน้อย รบ.ทหารอาจอยู่ยาวไปอีกสองปี ถึงปี 2560 โน่น พวกอยากเลือกตั้งก็รอหน่อยนะ เขายอมรับว่าการที่ประยุทธ์ยื้ออำนาจต่อไปเป็น “ความเสี่ยง” สร้างความเสียหายต่อเศรษฐกิจ “ผมไม่คิดว่าเขาจะเสี่ยงแบบนั้น” อุ๋ยบอก และยอมรับว่าการมีรบ.ทหารเป็น “สิ่งที่เกินกว่าที่โลกจะยอมรับได้...เราควรอยู่ชั่วคราวเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาเท่านั้น” อุ๋ยบอกต่อว่า เนื้อหาหลักของรธน.คือการป้องกันไม่ให้รบ.ใช้นโยบายประชานิยม ซึ่งเขาบอกไม่ได้ทำลายเฉพาะประเทศไทย แต่ทำลายยุโรปด้วย สิ่งที่เขาห่วงตอนนี้คือหนี้สินครัวเรือนที่ทะยานขึ้นไป 85% สูงกว่าประเทศเพื่อนบ้าน “มันเป็นผลมาจากนโยบายรถคันแรกของรัฐบาลก่อน ทำให้เกิดหนี้เน่าเยอะแยะ” http://on.ft.com/1dhYJie
Pipob Udomittipong
ooo
Doubts raised over Thailand election timetable
By David Pilling in Hong Kong
Source: Financial Time
June 25, 2015
The generals ruling Thailand may have to extend their grip on power well into 2017 if there are “hiccups” in the process to approve a new constitution, according to Pridiyathorn Devakula, deputy prime minister and the highest-profile civilian in the military-led government.
That could present those voters opposed to last year’s coup with a Hobson’s choice of either accepting a less-than-democratic new constitution or rejecting it, thereby prolonging the junta.
In an interview, Mr Pridiyathorn said the military government would not deliberately seek to cling to power since that could damage both Thailand’s fragile economic prospects and its global standing.
“I don’t think he will risk it,” he said, when asked if General Prayuth Chan-ocha might try to hold on to power. “It’s beyond the norm accepted by the world. We shouldn’t do that. We are in temporarily to correct the situation.”
Staying too long could prompt other nations to impose sanctions, particularly perilous at a time of weak global demand, he said. “If you do anything to disrupt confidence . . . then we risk our economy going down.”
Possible blockages to an orderly return to civilian rule could come if a drafting committee rejected the proposed constitution or if it were subsequently voted down in a referendum. That would set the process back by at least six months, beyond the already delayed target of holding elections by next September. Originally, the junta had scheduled elections for this year.
Mr Pridiyathorn, who doubles as the junta’s economic tsar, said the economy was “creeping back” after a year of political turmoil. As evidence of recovery, he cited first-quarter gross domestic product figures that showed the economy growing 3 per cent from a year earlier despite sagging exports. However, output in the first quarter was below most economists’ expectations and the central bank has since cut rates aggressively to try to stimulate growth.
The deputy prime minister also admitted that household debt had risen sharply in recent years to about 85 per cent of GDP, one of the highest levels in the region. He said part of the blame lay with the previous government for encouraging car purchases by first-time buyers, saying this had led to a rise in non-performing loans in the auto-finance sector.
On Thursday Sommai Phasi, finance minister, said GDP for 2015 may have to be downgraded yet again — this time by 0.5 percentage points to 3 per cent — because of a prolonged drought in one of the world’s biggest rice-producing countries. The junta had originally predicted growth this year of more than 4 per cent.
For a full article:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/bc8cd434-1b1a-11e5-8201-cbdb03d71480.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3e6NKo5jC
