In massive U-turn, former Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva joins rivals in slamming army rule
Thailand’s junta is in “panic mode” over the economy and is failing to heal the country’s deep political rifts, former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday in unusually strident criticism of the kingdom’s generals.
His remarks come just two days after his arch rival, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, also hit out at the junta’s nearly two years in power, an indication of how Thailand’s bitterly divided political camps increasingly see eye to eye on military rule.
Thailand’s generals seized power in May 2014 saying they would end more than a decade of political instability that has dogged the nation and dragged down what was once one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant economies.
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Former army chief turned Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has vowed to kick-start the economy and end the kingdom’s cycle of political violence and corruption with a new constitution, the country’s 20th since 1932.
But in a speech to business leaders in Bangkok, Abhisit said the junta was failing to carry out necessary economic reforms, especially in the flagging agricultural and industrial sectors.
“Despite two years of relative calm and also initiatives being taken by the current government when it came to power, there has been too little progress even on this front and now it’s almost in panic mode,” he said.
