NACC urges voters to look out for policy corruption
จากไชต์: Office of The National Anti - Corruption Commission (ONACC)
จำนวนผู้เข้าชม: 581
The 27th general election is drawing near with campaign banners being put up everywhere and debates between candidates running rampant. Each political party has continued to showcase their policies in major areas such as economy, social welfare and social development, education, labor etc.
Perhaps the policy that has been debated on the most is the populist policy that political parties often use to lure voters. With the populist policy, political parties promise to give something to people without no strings attached. By doing so they are criticized for disregarding the country’s monetary discipline and funds necessary for the country’s development. The source of huge funding for the populist policy is expected to come from outside of the government’s budget. The following are populist policies campaigned by major ome political parties.
Pheu Thai Party proposes a total of 70 policies worth over three trillion baht. Three policies are worth around 100 billion baht each, 11 policies total 416.7 billion baht, and seven policies total 36.8 billion baht.
A budget of around 560 billion baht is expected for a policy to stimulate the economy by giving 10,000-baht payout to each Thai citizen aged 16 years and over. According to the party, there are four sources of funding for the payout including 1) the government’s 2024 revenue of 260 billion baht, 2) tax money worth 100 billion baht, 3) 110 billion baht from budget management, and 4) 90 billion baht from the management of budgets of duplicated welfares.
Future Forward Party proposes 53 policies worth 1.28 trillion baht in total. Five policies related to universal welfare are worth 749 billion baht in total, including the 50-billion-baht birth welfare policy, 44.6-billion-baht policy for youth, 56-billion-baht policy for working people, 500-billion-baht policy for the elderly and 98.5-billion-baht policy for all age groups.
A coupon worth 3,000 baht will be given to the mother of each newborn. Another 1,200 baht will be given to a family with a toddler each month and the universal pension for the elderly will be increased to 3,000 baht per month.
Palang Pracharath Party has a total of 14 key policies totaling almost one trillion baht, including 128 billion baht for state welfare cards for low-income people, payouts ranging from 3,000 – 5,000 baht per month for senior citizens and 174 billion baht for mothers and children.
Democrat Party proposes 11 policies totaling 685.4 billion baht, including 3.6 billion baht for free Internet in all villages, 3.4 billion baht for senior citizens’ clubs, a 300-billion-baht fund for SMEs, and 30,000-baht payout per family per month for farmers.
The United Thai Nation Party proposes 11 policies totaling 250 billion baht, including 1,000-baht payout per month for a holder of a state welfare card, 40 billion baht for senior citizens, 40 billion baht for a new phase of the co-payment subsidy scheme, and 30 billion baht for the “people’s emergency fund”.
The Election Commission (EC) has instructed 70 political parties to submit details of their policies so that the EC can inspect their budgets, sources of funding, utility, benefits, impacts and risks. Offences caused by enticing a misunderstanding in popularity of candidates or political parties may lead to party dissolution.
Some eligible voters are reportedly concerned about a lack of clear details of many populist policies and their budgets which seem lower than they would have been.
The NACC has warned voters to carefully consider the policies of all parties to nib the problem of policy corruption in the bud, urging them to ask questions such as “Is this policy practical?”, “Where does the budget come from?” and “Will the policy create a fiscal burden and negative impacts in the long run?”
The NACC noted that the 2024 fiscal budget that the next government could use was only 200 billion baht, saying the policies that each party proposed were worth significantly more than that. The NACC suggested political parties declare the sources of budgets and recommended measures to punish those that deceived the public.
A poll conducted with 2,255 Thai people by the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and the KhonThai Foundation showed that the respondents wanted the new government to tackle corruption the most and wanted to see political parties use anti-corruption as their main policy.
86.2% of the respondents said they would not vote for a political party that did not have an anti-corruption policy. The respondents agreed that almost all political parties that formed a government would take advantage of the government’s budget to fund their next election campaign.
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