High hopes for small party

SRT touts major reforms ahead of Feb 8 election, writes Wassayos Ngamkham

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For the Seri Ruam Thai (SRT) Party, Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves — the party leader and its prime ministerial candidate — is pushing a nationalist agenda at full throttle in the final stretch of its election campaign.

Though his party is small, Pol Gen Sereepisuth has drawn attention with his bold declarations, openly calling for the formation of an alliance that would be prepared to deploy a military force as far as Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, should his party join the government.

Only after such a decisive action, he argues, should negotiations begin to establish jointly managed border zones for the mutual benefit of both Thailand and Cambodia. As a former national police chief, his proposals for police reform are no less striking and have emerged as a central pillar of his campaign.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth, now in his golden years at 77 years old, has been elected to parliament several times.

He is currently promoting 12 flagship policies to voters during this campaign period.

These include increased national defence, police reform "for the people", free education and the cancellation of student loan debt, a universal citizen pension of 3,000 baht per month, disability allowances of 3,000 baht per month, a drug-free national agenda, the eradication of corruption and criminal influence, nationwide free healthcare with a single national ID card, land allocation for housing and livelihoods, the confiscation of weapons to "stop deaths", a dam for agriculture and flood and drought prevention and raising the retirement age for civil servants to 65 years old.

DEFENCE AGENDA

Pol Gen Sereepisuth has consistently highlighted national defence as his primary selling point.