Thai government lacks will to fight corruption

Thai government lacks will to fight corruption

Suthichai Yoon, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra isn't going to let the
opposition steal the thunder from him over the "fake" compost
corruption scam. Neither will he tolerate the public perception
that he is acting under pressure from ex-PM Anand Panyarachun
over this issue.

It has been quite a challenge for local pundits (a species
fast approaching extinction due to multi-pronged pressure) to
understand how a CEO's mind works, but one never fails to be
mystified by the fact that he not infrequently confuses national
issues of significant interest with vindictive confrontations.

Once the country's leader takes criticism personally -- and
every critic's expression of disagreement with the powers-that-be
is taken as a personal salvo -- fruitful and constructive debate
simply can't take place. A national common sense of purpose to
fight corruption, which formed a very important part of this
government's original platform, has thus been sorely thwarted.

The premier is still trying to reclaim the credit for having
"quietly" instructed Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob
(before he boarded the plane to Mexico to attend the APEC summit
late last month) to look into the fake compost story before the
Democrats exposed the scandal.

If he had really taken that initiative, it would be
interesting to know why the government mechanism of catching its
own thieves was less responsive than that of the opposition
wriggling in from the outside. The clues of suspicious collusion
are everywhere. And it wasn't until the public began to get
alarmed over the "smelly deal" that a handful of bureaucrats were
placed under an official probe.

The public, however, feels insulted. These people are "small
fish", mere "operators" -- the corruption facilitators. We want
the big ones. After all, that's what the staggering mandate of
two and a half years ago was all about -- it was to give the
prime minister the power, the confidence and the legitimacy to
hook the crooks in his midst.

Much to the surprise of some observers (myself not included),
a deadpan PM turned and asked: Where's the proof?

Blaming the press for misrepresenting his remarks, the CEO
clarified that what he meant was that if he was to press criminal
charges against higher-ups in the ministry, he would need to have
more convincing evidence. But "administratively speaking", he of
course could mete out punishment without waiting for any
substantive proof.

So, what is he waiting for?

Nobody is quite sure. If he is serious about political
accountability or sensitive to how people feel about his counter-
corruption credentials, the Thai Rak Thai leader (his famous pre-
election campaign pledge: "I will crack down on corrupt
politicians without waiting for receipts as proof.") could have
chosen this great opportunity to show that he means business.
Instead, he has strongly implied that it is "business as usual".

Under the intoxicating influence of such an unprecedented
majority in the House and virtual control of the country's civil
and military establishments, the PM may have developed the
dangerous belief that he can muddle through such a crucial
controversy.

While an absolute majority in the House could mask temporary
misdeeds of the powers-that-be, trust in the leadership is a
stubborn fact of political life. A prime minister can't impose
trust on the people, no matter how decisive his hold on power.
The trumpeting of short-term GDP growth and playing with fiscal
numbers may distract public attention for a while. But it's
trust, or the lack of it, that decides the fate of a leader.

If the politicians involved in this simple cut-and-dried
compost scam can get away with their dirty manipulations, how are
we to expect this PM to even dare to step into the most
sophisticated and systematic corruption linked to serious cases
of conflict of interest, which has become the hallmark of this
particular government.

In fact, the kind of cheating, collusion and under-the-table
bribery found in the compost scam is going out of fashion. As a
recent TDRI study found, it's the more discreet form of "policy-
oriented" corruption that's plaguing the country. It's in this
field that PM Thaksin may find his credibility most vulnerable --
his weakest link, so to speak.

The PM may want to go down in history as a prime minister with
a quick mind -- a visionary who turned the country around. He
also wants to be known as an idealist and a statesman of sorts.

On other occasions, when he finds himself under assault for
leaning towards political expediency, he calls himself a
"pragmatist" whose ends justify the means. But he can never hope
to be recognized as the genuine reformer that he so desperately
aspires to be unless he can truly appreciate the hard fact that
political control doesn't automatically translate into public
trust.

One may be able to buy the former but the price of losing the
latter is irrecoverable.