THAI PM ABHISIT MARKS ONE YEAR IN OFFICE

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- For Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, it was a
dramatic year filled with tension and high anxiety.

As the year marked a failed assassination attempt, endless street protests,
aborted international summit and a fragile coalition government, among others,
many gave the boyish-looking leader, hardly six months to last the pace as
leader.

In fact, he was the Kingdom's fifth premier in the last four years where he
took over, days after the closure of Bangkok's two major airports by the
anti-government yellow shirt protesters.

But come Dec 17, the 45-year-old Newcastle-born Abhisit will mark his one
year in the hot seat and looks likely to remain in the driving seat for at least
until the next general election that could be held by the end of 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Bernama at his official residence, Ban
Pitsanulok here on Monday, Abhisit was asked if he was confident of staying long
in the hot seat when he started his first day in office.

"What I said then was that I am more interested that everyday I stay and I
work tirelessly so that the country gets back on its path to stability and
prosperity," he said.

Abhisit said he was pleased that during the last 12 months, he managed to
overcome whatever political challenges that he had to face, as well as turning
around the economy that was badly affected by the global economic crisis and
internal conflicts.

"Unemployment has stayed a lot lower than what the people had expected,
growth is going to be in the positive territory for this last quarter and also
next year. So, I am pleased with that," said Abhisit, who met his Malaysian
counterpart, Najib Tun Razak, at the Fourth Annual Consultation at
the Government House here Tuesday.

Nevertheless, he admitted that political divisions remained in the country
of
65 million people.

"But again, through the principle of democracy, transparency and
accountability, I am hoping that we will make steady progress towards
reconciliation," said Abhisit, whose Democrat Party grabbed the opportunity to
form a new coalition government after his predecessor, Somchai Wongsawat, was
disqualified by the Constitution Court.

Somchai, the brother-in-law of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was
kicked out just after three months in office when his People's Power Party
(PPP) was found guilty of election fraud in December, last year.

Abhisit then took over the leadership, six months after street protests by
the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which seized the Prime
Minister's Office in August, last year, and then shut down the airports to
force the pro-Thaksin government to step down.

Despite the friendly PAD's yellow-shirt protesters ending their siege, it
was
not meant to be a smooth ride for Abhisit.

Rival red-shirt supporters linked to Thaksin, took over the streets,
blocking
major roads in the capital during the Songkran holiday festival in April.

The biggest setback and humiliation for Abhisit came during the East Asian
Summit in Pattaya in April this year, when thousands of red shirt protesters
stormed the meeting venue and forced its cancellation. Leaders from more than 10
countries were evacuated by helicopters and boats.

But, the worst was yet to come.

That was when Abhisit was almost killed when his official car was attacked
by
red shirt protesters at the Interior Ministry. Fortunately, he escaped
unscathed.

"People can demonstrate, exercise their constitutional rights but they
cannot engage in violence," he said.

Despite the various colours associated with the country's political
affiliation and continued resistance from his political enemies, Abhisit said
his government had proven that it could govern and continue to respond to
people and allow those with different opinions to express themselves.

"At the same time, we ensured that there is rule of law, and there is
enforcement of law in a non-discriminary manner. That is what we need to prove
and I think we made some progress...we will do more, once that is done, that is
the most sustainable path to reconciliation," he added.

On his critics' contention that he should call for fresh elections as he
was ruling without a direct mandate from the people, Abhisit said he was not in
a hurry to dissolve parliament and preferred to wait until three conditions were
met.

They were, recovery of the economy, need to make sure that all political
parties agree on the election rules and ensuring that the campaign be orderly,
calm, stable and peaceful.

Asked whether he had set a time-frame to call for elections which were last
held in December 2007, Abhisit said it all depended on whether his opponents
would be able to meet those conditions.

"After all, my opponents have complained about the legitimacy of this
government but they never questioned the legitimacy of the two governments that
came, in exactly the same process, and were removed because of charges
concerning conflict of interest and election fraud," he noted.

To a question if he was confident of the Democrat retaining power after the
new election, especially with PAD's entry into politics, Abhisit said nobody
could really forecast what the outcome of the next election would be.

"Political parties enjoy ups and downs in popularity. We won the majority of
by-elections this year, and I think we made steady gains in areas where our
support had been weakened in the past," he added.

On whether Thaksin was instigating the red shirts in their so-called clamour
for democracy or to reclaim his frozen 7.6 billion baht in assets, Abhisit said
he did not see how his political rival could say he (Thaksin) was fighting for
democracy if he was going to use undemocratic means.

"And, I don't see how he can fight for democracy when democracy is not just
about elections, but also about good governance, about respecting human rights.
I think his record does not measure up to those standards...obviously, he wants
to protect his own interests," said the prime minister.

Despite the uphill task facing him on an almost daily basis, Abhisit was
confident of steering the country out of the doldrums.

And perhaps, he can take a leaf from his favourite English league soccer
team, Newcastle, which was relegated from the Premier League this season and now
was playing in the second-tier Championship league.

Asked if he thought Newcastle would be back in the top league next season,
the confident Abhisit replied, "Yes".

"They will be back in the premierships. They have 12-13 points clear of
non-playoff (zone)," said the premier who still plays in friendly matches and
manages to keep up with his team's progress, despite the hectic schedule.

-- BERNAMA