Abhisit Vejjajiva
Abhisit Vejjajiva | |
---|---|
อภิสิทธิ์ เวชชาชีวะ | |
27th Prime Minister of Thailand | |
In office 17 December 2008 – 5 August 2011 | |
Monarch | Bhumibol Adulyadej |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition |
In office 16 September 2011 – 8 December 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Yingluck Shinawatra |
Succeeded by | Sompong Amornwiwat (2019) |
In office 23 April 2005 – 17 December 2008 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Banyat Bantadtan |
Member of the House of Representatives for the Democrat Party List | |
In office 6 January 2001 – 5 June 2019 | |
Member of the House of Representatives for Bangkok | |
In office 22 March 1992 – 9 November 2000 | |
Constituency |
|
Leader of the Democrat Party | |
In office 6 March 2005 – 24 March 2019 | |
Preceded by | Banyat Bantadtan |
Succeeded by | Jurin Laksanawisit |
Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister | |
In office 14 November 1997 – 17 February 2001 | |
Prime Minister | Chuan Leekpai |
Preceded by |
|
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born | Mark Abhisit Vejjajiva 3 August 1964 Second Lieutenant |
Abhisit Vejjajiva (
Born in
Abhisit was appointed prime minister of Thailand on 17 December 2008, after the Constitutional Court of Thailand removed Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from office.[8][9] At age 44, he was the country's youngest prime minister in more than 60 years.[10]
Abhisit became premier at a time of
Abhisit's government faced major protests in
Having resigned the party leadership after the defeat the Democrats suffered in the parliamentary elections of 2011, Abhisit was re-elected as leader at a party assembly.
In 2018, the Democrats held a contest for party leader in preparation for the upcoming election. Abhisit was re-elected party leader, beating former PDRC leader, Warong Dechgitvigrom, by approximately 10,000 votes.[20] However, after a poor showing in the 2019 election, Abhisit resigned as party leader.[21][22]
Early life and family
Mark Abhisit Vejjajiva was born in
After moving to Thailand, he received a bachelor's degree in law from Thailand's
Abhisit is married to Pimpen Sakuntabhai, his classmate at the Chulalongkorn University Demonstration elementary school, who is a former dentist and is now a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at
Abhisit also has two sisters: child psychiatrist Alisa Wacharasindhu and author
Background
Abhisit's ethnic Chinese ancestors were surnamed
The Vejjajiva family came to prominence when Dr. Long, then
Abhisit's father, Athasit (อรรถสิทธิ์) Vejjajiva, is a former
Early political career
Entry into politics
Abhisit began his political career in the 1992 general elections that followed the coup, becoming a
Education Reform
During his administration as Minister to the Prime Minister's Office, he was responsible for the national education act of 1999.[42]
Democrat Party leader
Abhisit was first nominated for the position of Democrat Party leader in 2003, following the resignation of then-party leader and former-Prime Minister
2006 elections
In February 2006, then-Prime Minister
Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party won an overwhelming majority in the virtually uncontested April 2006 election. However, the elections also left 38 seats vacant in the House of Representatives, because some Thai Rak Thai candidates were unable to garner the constitutionally required minimum of 20% of the vote to hold office. In the ensuing political crisis, Thaksin announced he would step down as Prime Minister, and the Constitutional Court ultimately invalidated the election results.[45]
The Thai Rak Thai party charged the Democrats with bribing other small political parties into boycotting the April 2006 elections. An 11-member fact-finding panel headed by Deputy Attorney-General Chaikasem Nitisiri voted unanimously in June 2006 to recommend dissolving the Democrat Party, as well as Thai Rak Thai and three other parties, based on evidence that the Democrats bribed other opposition parties into boycotting the elections.
2006 military coup
On 19 September 2006, only weeks before the scheduled elections, the military seized power in the
We cannot and do not support any kind of extra-constitutional change, but it is done. The country has to move forward and the best way forward is for the coup leaders to quickly return power to the people and carry out the reforms they promised. They have to prove themselves. I urge them to lift all restrictions as soon as possible. There is no need to write a brand new constitution. They could make changes to the 1997 constitution and if that's the case, there is no reason to take a year. Six months is a good time.[52]
Abhisit and the Democrats supported the military junta's
2007 elections
The Democrat Party remained in the opposition after the December 2007 parliamentary election. In a parliamentary vote to select a new prime minister on 28 January 2008, Samak Sundaravej of the People's Power Party defeated Abhisit by a vote of 310 to 163.[55] On 9 September 2008, Samak was removed from the post by the Constitutional Court for receiving payment as the host of a TV cooking program.
In the
Upon becoming Premiere, Abhisit promised to enforce the rule of law and prosecute the 21 People's Alliance for Democracy leaders who were responsible for seizing Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airport. As of February 2010, arrest warrants still had not been issued for the airport seizures.[59] On 24 February 2010, government prosecutors deferred a decision for the eighth time to decide whether to indict the nine leaders of the PAD over the 7-month long seizure of the Government House. However, as the PAD leaders did not voluntarily come to testify, the judge could not make the decision and the process was thereby delayed.
Rise to Premiership
When Thaksin called for new elections in April 2006, Abhisit said he was "prepared to become a prime minister who adheres to the principles of good governance and ethics, not authoritarianism." On 29 April Abhisit announced his candidacy for prime minister at the Democrat Party annual convention. He promised a "People's Agenda", with education as the main focus. He used the campaign slogan "Putting People First". He also vowed not to privatise basic utilities such as water and electricity, and to nationalise state enterprises that Thaksin had privatised.[60] Regarding core elements of the so-called "Thaksinomics", Abhisit promised "the benefits from certain populist policies, such as the 30-baht healthcare scheme, the Village Fund and the SML (Small Medium Large) scheme, will not be revoked but instead improved." He later urged that Thaksin's popular 30-baht health care scheme should be replaced with a system where access to medical services was totally free.[61] Abhisit stated that all future Democrat MPs would have to declare their assets and any involvement in private companies. (By law, only members of the cabinet needed to declare their assets.)[62]
Abhisit raised more than 200 million baht at the Democrat Party's 60th anniversary dinner. He outlined several energy policies, including increasing dividend payments from state-owned oil company
On 13 July 2006, Abhisit promised to deal with escalating violence in the South by putting problems in the southern provinces on the public agenda.
Abhisit also promised many populist policies including providing free education, textbooks, milk, and supplemental foods for nursery school students, and increasing the minimum wage.
After Somchai was removed and the PPP dissolved, the MPs of the parties which had been in coalition with the PPP forged a new coalition with the
Prime Minister of Thailand
Abhisit was formally endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as Prime Minister on 17 December 2008. Key appointments in Abhisit's government included PAD leader
Abhisit's government saw unemployment increase by 63 percent.[74] Thailand's government budget went into deficit for the first time since 2003. By 2010, the government's debt had bloomed and reached 4.8% of GDP, the largest budget deficit since the government of Chuan Leekpai. This was likely due to the decades of tense political situation in the country.[75] To help the people, Abhisit subsidised the price of diesel, LPG cooking gas, and household electricity. Public bus and train journeys were provided for free.[76]
Abhisit's information and communications technology (ICT) policy included increased censorship of Internet sites the government considered deemed offensive to the monarchy, cancellation of 3G 2.1 gigahertz spectrum licence auctions, and larger budgets for government-owned TOT.[77][78]
Wealth
Upon his appointment as prime minister in 2008, Abhisit officially declared personal assets worth 51.8 million baht (nearly US$2 million). This had increased to 54.4 million upon leaving office. Given that Abhisit has never worked in the private sector, the vast majority of his wealth was either inherited or given to him.[79]
Criticisms
In his political career, Abhisit has been accused of hypocrisy. Prior to Abhisit's planned speech at St John's College on 14 March 2009, Lee Jones, a researcher on international relations at Oxford University, sent a letter to the dean of St John's College, attacking Abhisit and his administration as "democratic hypocrites".[80] Part of the letter read "Although it is understandable given his education at St John's, I do not believe it is appropriate to ask someone like him to address the Oxford community on the subject of 'democracy'. As you may be aware, the Abhisit administration has only come to power in Thailand following a period of naked manipulation of Thai politics by cynical political elites, including the leadership of Abhisit's own 'Democrat' Party."[81] Jones later clarified on his website that he had not intended to oppose the Thai PM and the event.[82]
Abhisit refused to resign as prime minister after a clash between government troops and anti-government protesters on 10 April 2010 had claimed the lives of at least 23 people and injured hundreds more.[83]
Honours
Royal decorations
Abhisit has received the following royal decorations in the
- Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (1999)
- Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (1998)
Military rank
Volunteer Defense Corps of Thailand rank
See also
References
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External links
- Official website (in Thai)
- In-depth interview from the BBC
- "Abhisit's Fame Taken in Vain". The Nation. Bangkok. 7 October 2005. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007.
- Abhisit Vejjajiva short bio