Yellows and reds Busy but still a million miles apart
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Last Sunday was a particularly busy day due to the convergence of activities organised by different political stripes.
Pitak Siam, an offshoot of the yellow and multi-coloured shirts, organised an anti-government rally at the Royal Turf Club. The crowd surged to fill the 20,000-seat racetrack.
The lead organiser was Boonlert Kaewprasit. He is no stranger to politics but lacks experience in mobilising the masses.
The majority of the crowd were supporters of Santi Asoke, a religious group seen as the core ally of the yellow shirts.
Former national security chief Prasong Soonsiri and Democrat ally Pathompong Kesornsuk were main speakers to attract the crowds.
Chulalongkorn University economic lecturer Narong Phetprasert made a fiery speech condemning the government’s intervention to try to boost the price of rice.
From 2001 to 2004, Narong was a staunch ally of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He helped to map out several populist policies, notably those related to the Village Fund and labour welfare.
During Thaksin’s second term, he became disenchanted with populism, which he said had been abused as a vote-buying strategy rather than a genuine attempt to improve livelihoods for the people.
He took Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to task for squandering Bt300 billion in connection with the rice pledging scheme.
Out of some 20 million rice farmers, less than five million were small-scale farmers and only a fraction of them were beneficiaries of the scheme, he said. Narong questioned the justification for such big spending when only a small num?ber of farmers benefit.
In a separate rally, the People’s Alliance for Democracy led the yellow shirts in Nakhon Si Thammarat to kick off a cam?paign to oppose the privatisation of PTT and the plunder of energy resources in the Gulf of Thailand.
While Pitak Siam leader Boonlert |highlighted corruption and flaws of populism, PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang chose to raise awareness about the |contentious allocation of resources in the energy sector.
Boonlert and Chamlong are like two sides of the same movement aimed at stoking a fire to burn down the government. Their fire may appear to flicker at the moment but it has the potential to become an inferno should the government make a mistake that fuels public discontent.
In Uttaradit, the red shirts launched a school to train political activists. Some 2,000 red shirts from the North are allegedly due to take part in the programme.
Red-shirt chairwoman Thida Thawornseth pledged to open five red schools across the country by the end of this year.
The first red school opened back in 2009, and that led to the red-shirt rally in 2010, triggering violence and bloodshed.
Amid the planned expansion of red schools, Thida made it clear her movement wanted to pave the way for a rewrite of the charter. To achieve this, the red shirts want to do everything in their power to destroy the bureaucratic polity, also known as the amart or elite, which is seen as the major obstacle to true democratic rule.
In Thida’s red book, which spells out the guidelines for activism, the bureaucratic polity entails a vast network of people who oppose Thaksin.
Meanwhile, in Bangkok’s Yannawa district, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva officiated at the opening of his party’s school.
Since their defeat in the July 2011 |general election, the Democrats have |intensified efforts to mobilise the masses. Their main theme is to attack Thaksin’s |populism as a misguided ploy for democracy. In the assessment of Democrat adviser Chuan Leekpai, populist policies are just pork-barrel politics.
Politicians of all stripes may be chanting reconciliation as their mantra. But each camp is fortifying its position and refuses to budge.
