A majority of people are not satisfied with the overall performance of MPs in the House of Representatives over the past four years, according to the result of an opinion survey by the National Institute of Developmen Administration, or Nida Poll, while 43% want the House dissolved this month.
The poll was conducted on Dec 14-16 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country to compile their opinions on the performances of MPs and House speaker Chuan Leekpai over the past four years.
Asked whether they were satisfied with MPs' performance, a majority – 57.97% – said "no", including 31.98% who said they were fairly unsatisfied because the MPs spent most of the time squabbling. A further 25.96% were not satisfied at all, citing frequent House session collapses due to the lack of quorum and incompetence on the part of MPs.
On the other side, 30.46% said they were moderately satisfied, reasoning that most MPs had considered people's needs and helped them get government help, while 9.77% were very satisfied, saying they had passed many important laws.
The rest, 1.83%, had no answer or were not interested.
On the performance of House speaker Chuan Leekpai, 41.98% were fairly satisfied, saying he was prudent, reasonable and neutral. Another 24.05% were very satisfied, citing his honesty, straightforwardness, fairness and ability.
On the other side, 20.38% were not particularly satisfied, saying he lacked neutrality and decisiveness, whlle another 11.76% were not satisfied at all, saying he lacked neutrality and was unable to keep House meetings in order.
The rest, 1.83%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether and when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha should dissolve the House of Representatives, the answers were:
• 43.13% said he should dissolve the House in December
• 33.82% said he should allow the House to complete its term until March 23, 2023
• 12.37% said he should dissolve the House in January 2023
• 3.74% said he should do so in February 2023
• 2.82% said he should do so a few days before March 23, 2023
• 4.12% had no answer or were not interested
