By Avudh Panananda
The Nation
Published on August 11, 2009


A key message from the six-month government performance report has, unfortunately, been drowned out by the din of rambling over differing expectations.
While critics are trying to fault everything the government does or does not do; when fans are saying the government could and should have done better; it goes virtually unnoticed the government is saying it is here to stay for three more years.

Although the sentiment is that the government should be lucky to last until the year's end, the performance report is clear - 2012 is the deadline to get the job done and the past six months were just a headstart to rebuilding the economy.

Ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra seems to be the only man who can see through the game plan of the Democrats.

This explains why Thaksin is desperate to bring about the government's downfall. His chance to expunge his conviction is nil for as long as the Democrats are in power.

The Thaksin-fuelled opposition movement is not the issue. The question is whether Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva can outwit and outlast critics.

In his own assessment, Abhisit said he managed to put out the fire engulfing the country when he came to power.

It's true that two preceding governments under Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat failed to advance the country forward due to street protests and legal battles.

On top of fractious politics and other domestic woes, the installation of Abhisit's leadership coincided with the global economic downturn. The prime minister had reason to congratulate himself in rescuing the country from a freefall.

But this is no time to bask on a molehill of achievements when a mountain of problems remains unsolved. The economy has bottomed out; pundits seem to agree on this. But no one has a sure fire prediction on how long the recovery process will take.

On the political front, the animosity of the yellow shirts vs the red shirts has persisted.

Within the coalition bandwagon, the Chart Thai Pattana Party has been playing the role of the odd one out.

Its faction leader Banharn Silapa-Archa has recently reminded of the dire consequences to the alliance if Abhisit continues to promote his one-man show.

Banharn is particularly unhappy about two things - Abhisit's aloofness toward coalition partners and a budgetary allocation deemed unfavourable to his party.

Among the Democrats, doubt has lingered on whether Abhisit is being overshadowed by his party secretary- general Suthep Thaugsuban.

The turbulence may have dissipated somewhat, but economic and political woes are persisting.

Under the backdrop of a precarious situation, Abhisit is counting on his mission to overcome the economic downturn as a ticket to complete his term in office.

The lynchpin to ensure the government's survival is the Bt1.43 trillion spending plan for the Strong Thailand Project.

The spending, to be spread over three years, is expected to rehabilitate and rebuild the economy on an unprecedented scale. It is the most ambitious nation-building plan to date.

Abhisit can be assured of his legacy if he can push through just half of the planned spending. The jury is still out on the issue. It is one thing to draw up a grand plan but success is measured by the implementation.

In a bureaucracy plagued by corruption, it is no easy task to implement a mega project, not to mention the Bt500 billion spending to revamp the country's logistic and transportation infrastructure.

The controversy surrounding the Bt4 billion bus leasing project should serve as a lesson that the Strong Thailand Project may never move from the drawing board to the implementation if partisan interests are allowed to cloud judgement.

To succeed, Abhisit needs to exert a firm leadership to safeguard the integrity of the spending plans. If corruption scandals erupt, then his ticket for survival may yield the opposite result, hastening his exit.