Government to Present Its One-Year Performance in Parliament

(29/08/2012)

It is one year now that the Yingluck Shinawatra administration has been in office. It is expected to present its one-year performance to Parliament in September 2012 Prior to the presentation in Parliament, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has assigned each ministry to report its achievements to the public, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the first ministry to report on 26 August 2012. 23 August 2012 was the first anniversary of the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, which presented its policy statement to the National Assembly on 23 August last year. The Prime Minister told all Cabinet members to prepare relevant information in order to inform the public. The information will also be collected for the Prime Minister so that she would be able to present her statement in Parliament on the Government’s one-year performance. The Government on 25-26 August 2012 organized an event to show its first-year achievements at the Ratchamangkala Stadium in Bangkok. Similar events were held in other provinces nationwide. In the overall picture, the Prime Minister stated that she was satisfied with the operations of each ministry, saying that all urgent policies had been implemented in the first year of her administration. The Prime Minister emphasized that the happiness of the people and their better income are the goals of the Government. She said that the Government is ready to consider comments, advice, and concerns from the public, so that it would improve operations for the benefit of the people. The Prime Minister also said that she was not discouraged, but realized that she must work at full capacity to ease the country’s problems. She urged all Cabinet members to work attentively in the public interest, as well. Prime Minister Yingluck explained that the Government wanted to increase the people’s income through various polices, such as 300-baht minimum wage, an increase in the allowances for older persons, and a starting salary of 15,000 baht for new graduates. It also introduced measures to reduce people’s living expenses through tax deductions for first-time home buyers and car buyers. Also, various funds have been set up to provide opportunities for people to have greater access to financial sources. The Prime Minister said that the Government was trying to ease the country’s problems in a systematic manner, such as those concerning poverty, social disparity, and income distribution. Meanwhile, Secretary-General to the Prime Minister, Mr. Suranand Vejjajiva, said that the Government’s performance would be divided into two categories: urgent and general policies. He said that during the past year, certain urgent polices had been affected by severe floods and the global economic slump. Some policies have been well implemented, but there are still gaps that need to be rectified.