Society doubts government’s legitimacy: newspaper columnist
Even though the censure debate is over and the six ministers have maintained their positions, the government is heading downhill as society doubts the government’s legitimacy, which is more important than the vote in the House of Representatives, Thansettakij newspaper columnist “Erawan” said.
The government has to realise this fact and tackle the “legitimacy” issue very carefully "or they will head faster to the bottom because a failed economic administration that has affected Thai people has not been solved”. Moreover, the coronavirus outbreak has worsened the situation, the columnist said.
The ministers have to handle the crisis of fear more professionally and with an integrated approach, allowing ministries to collaborate, while Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha must have men of brain to deal with the situation, not men with power, or the government will not survive it.
Erawan also said the government cannot neglect political rallies by students and it has to face the truth that people are not pleased with their government and find solutions to resolve the conflict.
“And if they still deeply believe those students are just red shirt activists and Future Forward Party supporters, they might have to rethink it because they might get lost in the political conflict of the kind seen many years ago,” Erawan added.
This downhill situation is reflected in rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle while the overall status is not stable, showing that some parties in the coalition government have just tried to recruit more MPs from the dissolved Future Forward Party in order to bargain for more for ministerial posts.
These actions demonstrate a vicious cycle of the political landscape, in which politicians are often shortsighted, Erawan said.