Pornpimol Pimping for Abhisit

The Nation:


Our prime minister - whose credentials, track record and integrity would make decent citizens of any country proud to have him as their leader - has been in constant battles politically and economically. He has taken an unrelenting beating from the get go, from all directions. But he has shown his mettle and grace under pressure. Friend or foe, one thing is clear to all - he is not one to be taken for a ride.

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To a jaded person like me who has been around politicians of all stripes for almost all my adult life, this prime minister offers a breath of fresh air. He does not posture, does not brag, does not complain, does not do hyperbole, does not lie. If anybody cares to look, he has been trying his mightiest to restore the TRUST of the people in their government and their leader and the rule of law. Trustworthiness has nothing to do with repeating the mantra "trust me" for the nth time, but by showing an example of it - and people must have an open eye to see it.

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The public never knew that during the Songkran riots, a group of red shirts stood in front of his house in Bangkok hurling lewd and vulgar obscenities at his wife and children, who they thought were in the house while the prime minister was in Pattaya. He did not complain about the incident to the public and did not try to make an issue of it to gain sympathy for his personal pain. We never heard him recount his deeds during his visit to his alma mater of Oxford and was confronted by Jai Ungpakorn. He never told the public what a superb job he did of explaining the logic behind the much-criticised lese majeste law in a matter-of-fact and honest manner that cut down his interrogator to size, and earned a hearty round of applause from an amazed and stunned audience. The best of minds - always critical to a fault - they would have jumped on him had they found a hole or a lapse in his logic. Time and again he has defended the blue colour of our flag without dragging the institution down to the level of dirty politics. He is not doing it for lip service or personal gain; he does it because he believes it to be the right and fair thing to do. He does not get angry when people erroneously claim that he "rode to office unelected". Let truth be told, this prime minister was elected under the same constitution to the same House that elected Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat as prime ministers.

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It is evident that the prime minister has been fighting with one hand tied behind his back, but it is not clear if he has the upper hand. One can be sarcastic by saying that it is only in Hollywood movies that the good wins over the bad. But that sarcasm leads us nowhere. The prime minister has given us his all and his best; he deserves our helping hand.


The Nation really is in full propaganda mode.

What exactly has Abhisit accomplished? Nothing he promised has materialized, except giving free bribes to the masses at the taxpayers expense, and that sure didn't win him any loyalty.