Pheu Thai urges Surin voters to ‘end dictatorship, elect people’s govt’
Pheu Thai pledged to boost state welfare and crack down on recreational ganja as it launched its election campaign in the key eastern province of Surin on Sunday.
Party leader Cholnan Srikaew showed up on stage with an elephant hook to introduce Pheu Thai MP candidates for all eight Surin constituencies.
Cholnan urged voters to secure a sweep for the party in Surin, which is considered Thailand’s elephant province.
"If anyone [in government] is stubborn, we will control them with this hook," he said, brandishing the implement as a symbol of Surin voters.
He also asked people to support Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai’s core prime minister candidate, saying she would restore Thailand “for the people”.
"Pheu Thai will take back the Constitution for the people," he said, adding that the current charter is dictatorial. The Constitution hands wide-ranging powers to the junta-appointed Senate, including the power to join MPs in voting for the next prime minister.
Pheu Thai deputy leader Suthin Klangsaeng said that if elected to government, the party will boost state welfare card benefits to enable people to earn a living and repay debt.
"We will create a better state welfare card than the one under Prayut," he said, referring to the current administration of Prayut Chan-o-cha.
He added that Pheu Thai will offer jobs and other welfare to take care of people.
Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said Pheu Thai will offer farmers a three-year debt moratorium and agriculture technology to improve their quality of life.
She added that the price of agricultural produce must be increased to alleviate farmers’ hardship.
Pheu Thai would also address land ownership for the poor, using technology to verify people's rights, amending laws for fair allocation of land, and handing unused state land to people.
Nattawut Saikua, director of the Pheu Thai Family project, vowed to protect children from the impact of cannabis legalisation.
"Cannabis in schools will not occur under a Pheu Thai government," he declared.
He said that Pheu Thai offers the only hope of changing Thai politics and halting Prayut and his team's dictatorship.
Nattawut added that Prayut had no concern for the lives of people in Northeast provinces and asked why construction of the motorway to Nakhon Ratchasima had not yet been completed.
"We have learned a lesson," he said. "The destiny of Thai people is to stop the dictatorship.”
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