Power to the local people
With the May 22 Bangkok gubernatorial election now looming, there is probably no better time for pro-reform groups to call out for the decentralisation of power, observers say.
Bangkok is the only province where its residents get to elect a governor. Governors in other provinces are appointed by the Interior Ministry under a centralised bureaucracy which has been in existence for as long as Bangkok has been the capital.
Calls for directly-elected governors have been made for decades but this has never materialised which should indicate how strong the opposition to it is within the corridors of power, according to the observers.
However, this time around, demands for changes to the country’s administrative system are drastically different, and are coming from the pro-reform Progressive Movement led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
Based on their media interviews, the group’s idea of decentralisation is not about the election of provincial governors. Instead, it is about dismantling the current local power structure.
The Progressive Movement’s proposal seeks to do away with provincial governors, district chiefs, kamnans and village heads, seen by pro-democracy groups as nothing but an archaic representation of the centralised system.
According to the Progressive Movement, local administrative bodies, formally known as local administrative organisations (LAOs) — provincial administrative organisations (PAOs), municipal councils, and tambon administrative organisations (TAOs) — should be given more say in the management of local affairs.
It sees these local administrative bodies, all of which are directly elected, as the people’s voices, whose roles and functions are limited by the current structure of provincial governors, district chiefs, kamnans and village heads.
The Progressive Movement proposes that directly-elected PAOs should have the authority to determine how resources are allocated, how budgets are spent and how local projects are developed.
Municipalities and TAOs, which are the lower-rung, directly-elected units of the LAOs, should also be provided with more funds, manpower, and freedom in developing public infrastructure and public services.
According to observers, while the Progressive Movement’s proposal will not be pleasing to the ears of its critics, it is not as controversial as its call for reforms of the monarchy and is likely to be more acceptable for discussion.
In fact, the group’s latest pitch for decentralisation should strike a chord with reform advocates who believe a revamp of the country’s national administration was cut short by the 2014 coup.
Moves towards decentralisation was said to have flourished during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration which appointed former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and scholar Prawase Wasi, two of the country’s most respected and trusted figures, to head reform initiatives.
Those efforts, which had clear goals of reducing the power of authorities and boosting those of the people, ground to a halt after the 2014 coup by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) which toppled the Pheu Thai Party-led administration.
According to observers, the Progressive Movement is on the “right track” by pushing for decentralisation and can count on its ally, the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), a reincarnation of the Future Forward Party headed by Mr Thanathorn, to help push the agenda in parliament.
The group has already kicked off a signature campaign for constitutional amendments aimed at reforming the decentralisation law under which a clear distinction of tasks and roles between those of central government agencies and local leaders will be set.
If the campaign gains traction and draws the support of more than 100,000 people, a motion will be laid in parliament to allow the group to explain the issue in front of lawmakers.
According to observers, the group also has a channel to sell its proposal.
The Progressive Movement took part in recent elections of local administrative bodies and won a modest number of seats, which gives it an opportunity to urge locals to think deeper about what decentralisation will bring and in what form.