Abhisit vows to address income gap
Dems leader also eyes provincial reforms
Newly-elected Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has vowed that under his leadership the oldest political party will pursue economic policies that will help reduce income inequality and ensure growth.
Mr Abhisit, speaking after winning the party leadership for the fifth time, also promised to push for elections of provincial governors as part of administrative reforms.
“It is time for Thailand to have more megacities in addition to Bangkok. Provinces all over the country should be able to elect their governors. Every province has its own needs. Also, inequality is partly caused by the fact that everyone has to wait for decisions from Bangkok,” he said.
Mr Abhisit, who has served as Democrat Party leader since 2005, said the structure of the economy has created huge degrees of inequality that simply cannot be addressed if policymakers stick to the same old paradigm.
“Our GDP [Gross Domestic Product] this year has increased, but that number means almost nothing to 80%-90% of the people because the group benefiting the most from the economic stimulus package are big companies and businesses,” he said.
Mr Abhisit also pledged tax reform to restore fairness to middle-income families as he says the country’s current tax system mainly benefits the rich.
He said he will also come up with a policy to guarantee the price of farming produce.
Mr Abhisit, a former prime minister, was re-elected leader of the Democrat Party at the party’s general assembly yesterday.
The re-election of Mr Abhisit was the result of the party’s primary vote held on Saturday in which three candidates stood — Mr Abhisit, former Phitsanulok MP Warong Dechgitvigrom and former deputy party leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot.
Mr Abhisit came first with 67,505 votes, followed by Dr Warong who received 57,689 votes and Mr Alongkorn who polled 2,285 votes.
The assembly also elected Siriwan Pratsajaksatru as deputy party leader for the North, Vithoon Nambutr for the Northeast, Sathit Pithuthecha for the Central Plains, Nipit Intarasombat for the South, and Sansern Samalabha for Bangkok.
Eight others were also elected deputy party leaders with differing responsibilities. They were Jurin Laksanavisit, Nipon Boonyamanee, Issara Somchai, Korn Chatikavanij, Chinaworn Boonyakiat, Panich Vigitsreth, Alongkorn Ponlaboot and Aswin Wipusiri.
Juti Krairiksh was re-elected party secretary-general.