Chavalit backs devolution of power

PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, today reaffirmed the government’s commitment to devolution of political power from Bangkok to the provinces. In a speech at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to 600 representatives of Provincial Administration Organizations (OrBorJors) from all over Thailand, Gen Chavalit stressed that local administrations are a way of distributing power. Despite Bangkok’s CEO Governor experiment, which has seen administrative power drawn back to the center, Gen Chavalit said, “The most important thing is that [power] must be for the people. This power must be distributed, not centralized.” He added that a bill, to be put before parliament soon, proposes that the presidents of OrBorJors should be elected directly by the public instead of being chosen by the members of the OrBorJor, as is currently the case. He added that he was confident that the bill would be passed. Gen Chavalit said that, in the coming fiscal year, the government has allocated a budget of about 6.6 billion baht for local administration organizations, which, when added to the taxes they are empowered to collect locally, will mean local administration organizations will have about 10.87 billion baht to spend.