220,000 people answer Prayut’s four questions on country’s future
More than 220,000 people have answered Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s four questions about politics and the future of the country in the first 10 days since the government started accepting public opinions, a senior official said.
The three provinces with the largest response are 27,843 people in Ubon Ratchathani, 20,658 in Khon Kaen, and 16,658 in Sakon Nakhon, Permanent Secretary of Interior Ministry Grisada Boonrach said on Saturday.
The government started to collect answers from people on June 12 through the Interior Ministry’s Damrongtham Centre which runs the complaint centres in all provinces, the One Stop Service centre of the Prime Minister's Office, and the Complaint Centre of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
To respond, people must be able to identify themselves with a picture ID containing a 13-digit identification number.
Prayut last month asked citizens during his weekly national address if they thought the next election would deliver a government with good governance, and what they would do if it failed to do so.
The prime minister also asked if it was right to have elections without taking the country’s future into consideration. His last question dealt with whether politicians with “unsuitable behaviours” should be allowed to re-enter politics, which he said could lead to new conflicts.
Critics saw the questions as a move by Prayut to find out whether it would be possible to prolong the junta’s power.