Thailand's new Cabinet lineup has been submitted for royal
approval by the Cabinet Secretariat on Monday while the King will
grant a royal audience on Wednesday afternoon for the Prime
Minister. And then, the new 36-member Cabinet will swear in before
the King, starting the life of the first elected government since
the military coup in 2006.
However, during the past months from the general election to the
Cabinet lineup, the new premier Samak Sundaravej was never seen as
the real power leader, no matter in the control of People Power
Party (PPP) or the new government. Since he has publicized that he
is a proxy of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was
ousted during the coup, Thaksin is always considered as a "premier
behind."
But some figures in the PPP never admitted. PPP's
Secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee reiterated on Tuesday that
Thaksin will not have a role in the new government as some had
speculated.
"Thaksin said so himself that he will only give advice but he
has washed his hands of politics and will never take on a full-time
political position," Surapong said.
Tipped to become the next finance minister, Surapong insisted
the new government's economic team will not be headed by one
individual.
"There will only be one economic chief executive officer (CEO)
handling all financial matters, and that's the Prime Minister
Samak. The Prime Minister will assign various tasks to certain
individuals deemed as capable enough to achieve desired results."
he said.
"Unlike in past administrations, there will no longer be one
person overseeing everything on the economic front," he added.
Nevertheless, on the issue of Cabinet lineup, local media saw
the estrangement between Samak and Thaksin, both wanted a strong
impact on selecting ministers.
The Nation newspaper said on its Tuesday edition that
cracks have begun to appear in the relationship between Samak and
Thaksin, as Samak wants to have a bigger say in forming the Cabinet
and hang on to his premiership over the next two to three
years.
According to sources familiar with the development, Samak is now
causing trouble for Thaksin because he wants to have his own way in
running the government.
Shortly after his appointment as Prime Minister, Samak decided
to reshuffle the list of Cabinet members presented to him by all
six coalition partners. He found several of the candidates to be
unacceptable.
His interference in the formation of the Cabinet resulted in the
removal of Chai Chidchob and Srimuang Charoensiri from the list of
candidates for portfolios in the Office of the Prime Minister and
Energy Ministry respectively. Chai is the father of Newin Chidchob
while Newin is the closest aide of Thaksin.
"Samak is now causing a lot of headaches for Thaksin and Newin,"
a political observer was quoted by the Nation as saying.
Political sources said Samak had reshuffled up to 12 positions
in the Cabinet list presented to him.
Samak led the PPP, a reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai
Party, to election victory. Thaksin is believed to have a great
deal of influence in the PPP. The members of Samak's Cabinet,
including Samak himself, had earlier been looked upon as simply
Thaksin's nominees.
But Samak now wants to have his own way in forming the Cabinet
and running the government. He gave an interview last week
complaining that his Cabinet looked like "ugly ducklings."
?Later he explained that he would likely bring in Sahas
Banditkul, his long-time aide, to help him run the administration.
Sahas is earmarked to serve as deputy Prime Minister but he is
unacquainted by Thaksin.
Samak showed a strong signal that he wants to stay in office as
long as possible. However, sources said the ousted Prime Minister
thinks the new government should last only for the short term –
focusing on reforming the constitution or introducing amnesty
legislation for the 111 former executives of the defunct Thai Rak
Thai Party.
Political sources said Samak was willing to work on
constitutional reform or amnesty legislation but only after he has
been premier for the next two to three years – not six months.
The Nation said Thaksin was so upset with Samak that he
flew from Hong Kong back to London over the weekend.
Surapong, former government spokesman of Thaksin and now is
expected to be finance minister for Samak, tried to play down the
conflict in the Cabinet formation, saying there won't be any rift
among Cabinet members, particularly among the deputy Prime
Ministers.
He said nobody had any objection to the arrival of Sahas as
deputy Prime Minister, since Sahas will help Samak in the transport
sector, which is one of Samak's fortes.
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)
