Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha reiterated strong determination to fight corruption in all his announced eleven reform sectors with assurance that any cabinet minister who under performs will be removed, while explaining the need to have many generals in his cabinet is to deal with certain security matters.
Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha on his weekly TV
programme, “Returning Happiness to the People,” Friday night for the
first time as the prime minister, Gen Prayuth began his speech
expressing his deep gratitude for the King on appointing him as the
prime minister.
“This has been the highest honour of my life – and not only for myself, but for my entire family,” Gen Prayuth said.
He said he was happy to bear the responsibility in moving the country towards a sustainable future.
“From now on, I will be responsible
for moving the country and the people forward and working together in
national development for the benefit of all, ” he said.
He thanked the National Legislative Assembly for selecting him as the PM and thanked Thais for having confidence in him.
He turned to corruption issue and
said “corruption has been deep-rooted in Thai society.
The problem needs
to be seriously addressed now. In order to see concrete and rapid
progress within one year, we need cooperation from all sectors,
including the state and private sectors, civil society, and ordinary
people.”
He dismissed allegation that the
National Council for Peace and Order has ignored the corruption
problems in the national reform plans.
He said he had heard concerns from
certain sectors that the NCPO has not included the prevention and
tackling of corruption in the 11-point reform agenda.
” I wish to state here that the
NCPO gives utmost priority to this issue and see it as one of the
first that needs to be tackled by reforms,” he said.
The NCPO has set corruption
prevention as important condition for every reform agenda, including
political and administration reforms, he said.
He then called on all sectors to join hands to fight against corruption.
He asked the public not to
criticise many retired generals in his cabinet much but to have
confidence in their integrity as all would devote to work hard, not for
any one but for the country.
Gen Prayuth said that the presence of military figures in his cabinet was necessary to deal with certain security issues.
“I want everyone in the country to look at the country first and do not pay much attention on individuals,” he said.
But he said if any minister under perform, he was ready to remove if their performance is poor or moral standard is low.
Gen Prayuth declared, “any cabinet
minister who does not work well will be replaced. There is no limit in
the number of Cabinet reshuffle. Bad guys will have to go and whoever
is corrupt will be sent to jail. So please do not worry. This is my
working style.
On the regional issue, Gen Prayuth says Thailand needs to increase competitiveness following AEC integration next year.
“We must raise our competitiveness
to equal that of our neighbours, especially with some countries that can
be considered to be both partners and significant economic
competitors,” he said.
He also turned to the aged people
with assurance that Thailand must speedily adjust the state social
welfare system, so that the needs of the elderly will be looked after in
an appropriate manner.
“It is an inherent Thai culture to take care of parents and the elderly as best we can,” he said.
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