Government secrecy undermines public trust

The government’s covert approval for the purchase of a Chinese-made submarine for the Royal Thai Navy has further stirred public resentment over the controversial procurement. 
The government admitted only this week that the Cabinet had quietly given the purchase the green light on April 18, when media attention was focused on the theft of a Royal Plaza plaque commemorating the 1932 constitutional revolution. Infuriatingly, the government’s spokesman, when asked earlier in the week about the Cabinet’s decision, had refused to admit the submarine deal had been sanctioned. Meanwhile senior Navy officers claimed to have no knowledge of any Cabinet endorsement.
The admission finally arrived, but only after the news media and outspoken critics of the government raised a ruckus. By way of explanation, the government claimed the deal was classified “top secret” and thus the Cabinet decision could not be publicly disclosed. It was hardly a convincing response. The slipshod way the submarine purchase is being handled in high places has generated suspicion that some sort of cover-up is underway, that the public is being duped, or at least that we simply do not have the right to know the details of this costly enterprise. The public outcry that ensued this week amply proved that the government blundered badly in wishing to keep this matter “top secret”. 
Eventually more details were allowed to emerge. The Cabinet had quietly approved the purchase of the Bt13.5-billion submarine, the first of three Yuan-class subs to be acquired from China, total price Bt36 billion. No one in government has as yet adequately answered the question that has dogged this affair from the outset: Why does Thailand need submarines? Now we have the deal approved surreptitiously while public attention was distracted, and discover further that the Cabinet’s consideration of the submarine purchase had been postponed repeatedly. That suggests there is good reason why neither the government nor the Navy can satisfactorily explain the need for submarines. It seems clear that the government was aware all along there would be furious opposition if the matter had been handled openly.
What also seems clear is that this government is dangerously unaware of the importance of transparency in its dealings. Governments that rule in a transparent manner are able to maintain public trust, a crucial element for their retention of power and the nation’s progress. Every government needs public trust in order to ensure stability. However, the submarine debacle is a serious, self-inflicted wound that sets public trust back enormously, perhaps irretrievably.
Our post-coup administration is no doubt confident it has the unwavering support of the military, given that so many key government figures have armed-forces backgrounds, including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. Approving the military’s shopping list for new hardware is an obvious way to cement that support, a tactic on which even civilian governments rely. But no government can afford to ignore the importance of public faith.
The post-coup government should keep in mind that it did not come to power thanks to a voter mandate, and that it has probably only stayed in power this long because it brooks no overt opposition. But continuing secrecy in its dealings can only erode the public trust that has kept this regime in its position for almost three years. Acting covertly against the wishes of the majority will dissatisfy many of its supporters – an undermining of authority it can ill afford.
If that dissatisfaction continues to mount, the government will be unable to stem opposition, and the fallout will be severe. All the military hardware in the world won’t prevent the inevitable outcome.