FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

People seek an early end to reforms, poll shows

People seek an early end to reforms, poll shows

The latest Bangkok Poll conducted by Bangkok University shows that the Prayut government scored 6.48 out of 10 for its performance over the past three and a half years, with 48.2 per cent of respondents saying that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) needs to finish its political reforms and other tasks sooner rather than later.

Most respondents to the poll, which covers a nationwide sampling of 1,212 people, suggested they were happy after the NCPO stepped in to end political violence and social chaos before May 2014. Besides political stability and social order, respondents were also happy about the Pracharat programme, which helps low-income earners and makes government services more efficient.
Overall, 47.5 per cent of respondents were not sure if the government would be successful in tackling issues concerning people’s economic well-being, while another 37.3 per cent of respondents said they were worried about the rising prices of petrol and cooking gas.
Regarding the political outlook, 37.1 per cent of respondents said they were worried about the general election timeline, while 48.2 per cent said the NCPO should have achieved its goals more quickly. 
They said they hoped the NCPO would be able to reduce corruption before the general election, and successfully tackle economic issues, while boosting the prices of agricultural products.
Meanwhile, Nipit Indarasombat, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said the NCPO was facing a serious challenge and would find it difficult to retain people’s support even though it may have decided to speed up the general election due to growing opposition to a further delay of the polls.
By taking legal action against students and other groups preparing to hold rallies against the earlier plan to delay the election, he said the NCPO had entered a critical stage of its existence. Moreover, political history showed that it would be difficult for the NCPO to regain popularity having not been careful enough in exercising its special power following the coup.
At this stage, Nipit said, there was no “medicine” to cure the illness so the NCPO had to accept its fate. Previously, the NCPO’s roadmap to return to a democratic path was to hold the general election around November this year. However, there has been an attempt to postpone the polls beyond the end of this year, resulting in growing opposition.
In response to the election delay, students and other pro-democracy groups have stepped up their campaigns against the government with a series of rallies in defiance of the NCPO’s strict enforcement of law and order, especially on political rallies.
 

RELATED
nationthailand