From ally to enemy: Jatuporn slams Pheu Thai's handout scheme
Core red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan, who was once a staunch Pheu Thai ally, has attacked the party for its digital wallet strategy, saying it is a thinly disguised populist ploy to woo voters.
Jatuporn, co-leader of the so-called Kana Lomruam Prachachon (Melting Pot Group), said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he does not believe the 10,000 baht digital wallet scheme will ever be implemented.
Jatuporn, who once led the red-shirt movement that helped Pheu Thai win several elections, turned against the party and its patriarch, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, since last year.
Among other things, Jatuporn has accused Thaksin of betraying the red-shirt movement by seeking his own amnesty during his sister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government. He said this planned amnesty, disguised as one for red-shirts, prompted street protests from the other side, which eventually paved the way for the 2014 coup.
Jatuporn pointed out that those in power would never allow the digital cash handout to be implemented and Pheu Thai may even be investigated by the Election Commission (EC) or even dissolved.
In one of its economic policies, Pheu Thai announced that if it wins, it would hand out 10,000 baht in digital wallets to 50 million Thais from the age of 16. The one-time handout would need to be spent within a 4-kilometre radius of the recipient’s home to stimulate the economy.
Jatuporn said the powers-that-be would be worried that the handout, which will require 500 billion baht, may affect the national budget, much like Pheu Thai’s rice-pledging scheme that led to losses of hundreds of billions of baht.
He said he expects the EC to prohibit Pheu Thai from using the digital wallet policy when campaigning for votes, and it may even order an investigation. Jatuporn also warned that the EC may call on the Constitutional Court to dissolve Pheu Thai after the probe.
The red-shirt firebrand said he sees the handout as a way of buying votes. He added that the 16 years age limit was only introduced to disguise the fact that Pheu Thai wants to buy support from first-time voters, who are at least 18.
He said the 10,000 baht handout would not help stimulate the economy and would not be much different from the money distributed via welfare cards by outgoing Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
Jatuporn also doubted Pheu Thai’s claim that the money would help poor families with four or five members to start their own small businesses like noodle shops or coffee outlets. He said such shops are already in abundance within 4-kilometres of most homes.
