NIDA poll calls for PM Prayut to quit, House dissolve, Cabinet reshuffle

With the upcoming election, a new poll from the National Institute of Development Administration found that 40% of people feel PM Prayut Chan-o-cha should announce he is quitting as prime minister by next August. The NIDA poll asked political opinions from 1,311 people of various occupations and educations levels nationwide by phone on October 5 to 8.

The poll addressed the controversy over whether PM Prayut can be reelected as the Constitution says no one can serve as prime minister for more than 8 years, and Prayut has been in command of Thailand since the 2014 coup. But as the Constitution was established in 2017 so some argue that PM Prayut only officially took the office in 2019 election and is therefore eligible for one more term.

The NIDA poll found nearly 41% of people believe that PM Prayut should commit to stepping down by August 2022 while 38% believe the Constitutional Court needs to rule on the issue as quickly as possible. Only 15% believe nothing needs to be done and nearly 6% had no opinion.

The poll also found that only 22% believed that the House of Representatives does not need to be dissolved, while other respondents debated when the dissolution should take place. 40% believe the House should be dissolved immediately, while 30% said the election law should be revised in line with the Constitution before the House dissolves. Nearly 6% believe PM Prayut should just be sure to dissolve the House before he faces another vote of no-confidence next year. Just under 2% had no opinion.

50% of those responding to the NIDA poll felt that the Cabinet was in need of a major reshuffling while 24% believed only a minor shuffle was necessary to fill the 2 empty cabinet positions formed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thamanat Prompow and Deputy Minister of Labour Narumon Pinyosinwat being ousted one month ago. Of that 24%, half felt their replacements should be outsiders while the other half think members of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party should step into the positions. 6% had no comment.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post