Govt to kick off PM poll quiz replies

The government will start gathering public feedback on Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha’s four questions on Monday.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting yesterday, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Bangkok residents can send their views on the questions to the city’s 50 district offices, as well as the government’s public complaints centre opposite Government House.

People elsewhere can send their answers to an Interior Ministry’s Damrongdhama complaints centre which are located in every province.

Those submitting their views will be asked to write down their answers to the questions on forms provided by authorities and will be required to produce their ID cards to confirm their identity, Lt Gen Sansern said. He denied the government would use information contained on ID cards to access people’s private data.

The government only wants to know what the public thinks, he said.

Answers to the four questions will be gathered and passed on to the prime minister every 10 days, with the first batch of answers to be sent to the premier on June 22, Lt Gen Sansern said.

Assistant government spokeswoman Thaksada Sangkhachan said the questions were a way for the government to listen directly to the public.

The questions are intended to get the people thinking about how they can help shape the country’s future after the next election, Col Thaksada said.

Gen Prayut asked the f our questions during his weekly television address on May 26. The questions were roundly criticised as an attempt to gather public support for the regime to stay on in power.

The first question asked whether people think the next elected government can offer good governance.

The second asked what should be done if an incompetent government were elected.

The third asked whether elections that fail to take into account matters relating to the country’s future, reforms and national strategy would be desirable.

His fourth asked if unscrupulous politicians should be allowed to run in the election. He asked who will deal with them and how, if problems should occur again.