PM should quit, says Pridiyathorn

"A failed government" should step aside for competent "neutral government," says Former finance minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula.

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Former finance minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula shows his open letter to the prime minister to the media at his press conference yesterday. SEKSAN ROJJANAMETAKUL

Pridiyathorn calls on PM to quit

Former finance minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula's call for caretaker premier Yingluck Shinawatra to resign and make way for a "neutral government" has drawn a fierce response from the government.

Key government figures labelled the remarks as unfair and said they showed a lack of commitment to following the democratic path.

MR Pridiyathorn branded the caretaker administration a "failed government" yesterday and called on Ms Yingluck to step down from her caretaker role.

In an open letter to Ms Yingluck which he read to the media, MR Pridiyathorn said: "Her resignation is possible under the democratic process when an administration finds that it can no longer govern the country.

"The current constitution makes way for an appointment of outsiders to run the country on an interim basis."

In reply, caretaker Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong sent an open letter of his own to MR Pridiyathorn.

Mr Kittiratt said on his Facebook page that MR Pridiyathorn's proposals showed disregard for democratic principles.

They also ignored the fact that the existence of the government and the caretaker prime minister show the democratic process under the constitution is still working, he added.

MR Pridiyathorn argued in his open letter that the Yingluck administration had failed to accomplish its key missions, reflecting a clear lack of ability to run the country.

"Your government has not been able to pay farmers for the rice they sold under your rice-pledging policy. Your government has kept millions of farmers waiting for several months for their payments," he wrote.

Protesting rice farmers from western provinces picket outside the Commerce Ministry. The farmers are holding placards attacking the caretaker government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over delayed payments in the rice-pledging scheme. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

The government cannot pay the farmers because it cannot provide enough funds for the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives [BAAC] to operate the scheme as planned.

The delay by the Finance Ministry in issuing the BAAC bonds, and the Ministry of Commerce's inability to sell the rice caused the BACC's lack of funds to pay farmers, he said.

"The failure to operate this flagship policy is a direct result of your government's lack of ability and nothing else," MR Pridiyathorn claimed.

On the government's proposal to establish a reform assembly, MR Pridiyathorn said no private sector organisations agreed to join the assembly.

"No one trusts or believes that the government will support genuine reform. They are concerned that the government has a hidden agenda," he wrote.

He called on Ms Yingluck and her caretaker cabinet to resign so that a new government can be formed consisting of "neutral people" who are well recognised by the public.

"The new government will have no problems drawing representatives from different sectors to join hands and cooperate on how to reform the country effectively," MR Pridiyathorn said.

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