From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post: Nov 17: Democrats admit campaigning for governor election
Date: 17 Nov 1992 17:06:33 +1100
Organization: Mail/News gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: munnari.oz.au


THE Democrat Party yesterday backtracked to admit that it had 
campaigned on the provincial governor election issue and had said 
that they could be held in five major provinces within five years.
 
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai made the statement after being 
questioned about the Democrat Party having made this promise 
during its general election campaign.
 
Previously the Democrat Party would not be committed to a time 
frame and always claimed that they had never committed themselves 
to a provincial governor election but only to a general 
distribution of administrative power to the provinces by way of 
local elections.
 
Democrat MP for Bangkok Preecha Suwannathat admitted that House 
Speaker Marut Bunnag, also a Democrat, had promised during the 
election campaign that provincial governor elections would be held 
within five years in five major provinces (Nakhon Ratchasima, 
Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Hat Yai and Songkhla).
 
The issue has pitted the Democrat and the New Aspiration Party in 
a conflict with the head-strong Palang Dharma Party which still 
insists on having provincial governor elections right away.
 
Mr Chuan, who is the leader of the Democrat Party, yesterday 
allowed that governor elections can be held in five major 
provinces within five years. However, he stressed that this 
depended on a study by the Interior Ministry which will have to 
study the details of the proposal first.
 
The Prime Minister said that changing the administrative system of 
the country was an important thing and can not be rushed. In the 
short term it can not yet be carried out until a study of its form 
and structure has been conducted.
 
He said that distributing administrative power was no problem no 
matter what name it might be called. This had been previously done 
in the past.
 
The Prime Minister said that the Interior Ministry has been told 
to study the issue and a committee has already been set up to do 
this. But it can not be quickly done or it would be damaging.
 
Asked about the fear that provincial governor posts would fall 
into the hands of local influential figures, Mr Chuan said that 
time was needed for the study and the information will be 
considered by the Cabinet.
 
The things that will have to be studied would include the 
relationship between the elected representatives and the civil 
servants from the various ministries at the provincial level, he 
said.
 
Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Suthas Ngern-muen (Democrat 
Party) commented that any coalition party which refuses to accept 
the resolution of the Government whips would show a lack of 
political manner.
 
He was referring to the Palang Dharma Party which fully supported 
the idea of immediate provincial governor elections.
 
Mr Suthas admitted that the Democrats supported the idea to elect 
the provincial governor in five major provinces in five years 
during its election campaign. But nothing was mentioned when the 
coalition parties discussed the drafting of the Government policy, 
he added.
 
He said the policy only mentioned the local administration 
election.
 
Mr Suthas said the PDP did not oppose the Government policy at all 
during the drafting. "Whether the election of governors should 
take place or not, the ministers in the coalition Government must 
listen to the majority of Cabinet members too," he insisted.
 
Deputy Prime Minister Banyat Bantadtan said that the policy of a 
political party and that of a coalition government are separate. 
Once parties come together to form a coalition government a common 
policy will have to be formed and each party will have to give in 
on what they want so that a compromise can be worked out.
 
The Democrat Party has to give in on its own policy as well so 
that the coordination of the work of the Government can proceed 
smoothly.
 
Asked why the Democrat Party has been denying the provincial 
governor election proposal since the start, Mr Banyat claimed that 
when the Government policy was being drafted his party can not 
insist on what it wants otherwise nothing could be worked out.
 
He said that he did not want to say anything that would cut into 
the hearts of other coalition parties. He said the Democrat Party 
considered that it has not gone back on any promise it made to the 
people during the general election campaign.
 
It would have been impossible to form the Government if every 
partner insisted on everything in its policy being adopted. Every 
party has to work under this condition and the Democrat Party has 
many other policies that it can not carry out because it has to 
listen to the opinions of the other coalition partners.
 
Asked if at present the country was ready for provincial governor 
elections, Mr Banyat replied: "It's not that it's not ready. But 
we have the same opinion which is the policy of the Government. 
It's not about readiness."
 
  He also added that the policy of the Government does not specify 
that there has to be governor elections within five years.