Samak fans flames of tension with remarks

On Saturday, a large crowd joined the street protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) after Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej implied that the government would use force to disperse protesters. Amidst calls for all parties to work towards cooling political temperatures, Samak's remarks obviously backfired.

In fact, several political pundits predicted that the PAD's rally would have died down, especially after the resignation of Jakrapob Penkair from his position as PM's Office Minister, and the decision of eight MPs to withdraw their signatures from a motion filed to amend the Constitution. But Samak's remarks during the nationwide TV programme inflamed political tensions, as they drew more crowds to join the PAD rally.

Samak's aggressive statement did not surprise anyone. This veteran politician is known for his shoot-from-the-hip style. In fact, Samak has managed to score points from some of his fans with his unique style. But this time, Samak has shown that he needs to learn how to act his part as the prime minister. He should not have to be reminded again that, as prime minister, his remarks carry more weight than those of any other politician.

Instead, he provoked a confrontation with the PAD-led street protesters. Ironically, it was Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung who was trying to contain the damage from Samak's speech. Chalerm said late on Saturday that protesters were allowed to continue their demonstration as long as they did not break the law.

If Samak's aggressive remarks were meant to swiftly ensure peace and social order, the premier failed terribly. In fact, judging from the smaller size of the crowds on Friday, PAD's rally on Saturday likely would have been considerably smaller had he not issued his statement. PAD had to shift the pretext for the demonstration from the proposed charter amendments to the government's failure to tackle the troubled economy. PAD also failed to attract many who are more concerned with immediate problems and the economy and who don't want to see political tensions linger. But Samak managed to draw these people to the PAD-led rally because they could not accept the remarks he made on Saturday morning.

Samak changed his attitude yesterday, which effectively cooled the situation down. He added that he did not say on TV that the government would use force to disperse the protesters on Saturday.

Speaking in his weekly live talk programme, he said police were instead finding a way to relocate the protesters without the use of violence. "They will use neither batons nor shields to do that," Samak said.

His reversal was welcome, but Samak should have learned his lesson from previous mistakes. Samak has made quite a few irresponsible statements during his weekly programme, such as when he commented on the financial status of two commercial banks, which caused an unnecessary panic in the market. He should have used his weekly programme to explain the government's policy to the public, rather than venting his anger at his opponents or losing his temper and making irresponsible remarks.

He claimed his remarks were misreported by the press. But millions heard the same thing during his programme on Saturday: Samak urged the audience to stay home. He said that, "today is the breaking point". It was obviously not an impromptu statement.

Samak should have been more responsible in preparing his remarks on the protests. He said on Saturday, "I have made the preparations with the police and armed forces". Later in the day, acting Police Commissioner-General Phatcharawat Wongsuwan said he had yet to receive an order from the prime minister to disperse the protest at the Makkhawan Bridge.

Besides, Samak should have looked into the matter and realised that the use of force to disperse a demonstration - unless in an emergency situation - is not permitted by the law.