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| Posted: 02 Dec 2013 11:14 AM PST Taking leave from the first few days of Umno General Assembly - now that the party election is over - my concern is shifted to Thailand, our neighbor that had seen seven coups since 1990, a detrimental factor which plunged the country into political instability. It's still unclear if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will survive the attempt to topple her. The army, which ousted Thaksin in 2006, has not taken sides this time.  Yingluck's answer has been to correct one imbalance with another: In her two years in power, she has thrown more than US$18 billion at buying rice crops from farmers at above-market rates. Spending the equivalent of 10 per cent of Thailand's annual government revenue is not sustainable. It is also not a solution to what the Northeast, which is half the size of Germany, needs. The region suffers from a 17-to-1 disadvantage to Bangkok in per capita annual healthcare expenditure. When it comes to education spending, it gets less than a fourth as much as the capital city. The World Bank has recommended consolidating local administrative units to make them more viable. Creating fewer, bigger local government agencies, should give them more autonomy over spending decisions. But technical improvements may help only up to a point. It will take strong political leadership to make the Bangkok elite accept a smaller share of a growing resource pie.  Thaksin's regime blew the opportunity by becoming mired in corruption scandals. Whatever the outcome of the latest protests, they offer little hope of a longer-term resolution. Yesterday, Yingluck rejected protesters' demands for her resignation amid fresh clashes here though offering talks. She said the demands were not possible under the constitution, but that she remained open to dialogue. "Anything I can do to make people happy, I am willing to do... but as prime minister, what I can do, must be under the constitution," she said after being told that almost a dozen people died in the unrest around Bangkok. A Thai court has issued an arrest warrant against Suthep Thaugsuban, until recently the opposition leader in parliament, on charges of trying to topple the government. This follows intensifying street demos in Bangkok. Suthep, who quit his position in the opposition Democrat Party to lead public protests against Thailand's government, became subject of a third arrest warrant on Monday. The police said Suthep was wanted 'for the charge of insurrection which shall be punished with death or life imprisonment'. This followed a defiant weekend address from Suthep, calling on people to join public protests and setting a deadline of Tuesday for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign. Although theoretically available for the most serious of charges, the death penalty is rarely carried out in Thailand. Suthep and his supporters are calling for the Thai government to be abolished and replaced with a 'people's council', they seek the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck, accusing her of being a puppet of her older brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. She survived a no-confidence motion comparatively comfortably last week, owing to her Pheu Thai party's parliamentary majority. Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup, is currently in self-imposed exile in Dubai, facing a 2008 jail sentence on corruption charges handed down in absentia. He dismisses the allegations as politically motivated and is still considered a key figure for the Pheu Thai party, which has not lost an election in Thailand in over a decade. The unrest has begun to take its toll, mainly the economy. Financial markets have also begun to take note, and not only because weak economic performance and financial issues loom ever larger amidst the brewing political instability. On Wednesday, the Bank of Thailand caught many off guard by making a surprise rate cut. Thai sovereign bonds and stock markets rose on Wednesday after a surprise rate cut by the nation's central bank. The 25 bps cut in the policy rate to 2.25 per cent also weakened the baht, which is going to be hard-pressed to strengthen again against the political instability stalking Bangkok. On the same day, economic data from Thailand showed that exports had unexpectedly fallen by 0.7 per cent in October year-on-year (YonY). The trade deficit for the month ballooned to US$1.77 billion. FOOT NOTE - (During Dr Mahathir's era as PM and Umno president, regional crisis, notably in Asean were often raised at the party's general assembly. However, the GA has been too 'personalised' ever since he left the Cabinet).  | |
| Posted: 02 Dec 2013 12:35 AM PST  Founded by former premier Tun Abdul Razak in 1974, Petronas under the era of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 88, had done well, emerging as among the world's most profitable conglomerate and the best in Asia. KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has announced that he has stepped down as Petronas adviser.His replacement is Najib's prerogative but someone from Khazanah is tipped to takeover the position. I personally would like to thank Dr Mahathir for his excellent contribution - both to Petronas and the country oil & gas sector.  |
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