Thaksin sees no place for Prawit’s brother in next Cabinet

Pheu Thai Party patriarch and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has told Palang Pracharath secretary-general Thamanat Prompow not to nominate his party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan’s younger brother as a member of the next Cabinet, Pheu Thai sources said.

The sources said Thaksin told Thamanat that Cabinet members under the Palang Pracharath quota must not include anyone with the Wongsuwan surname.

Thaksin was referring to Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, who held the post of deputy prime minister and natural resources and environment minister in the now-defunct Cabinet of ex-PM Srettha Thavisin.

Srettha was removed from office by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday and Thaksin’s daughter, Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, officially became the 31st prime minister of Thailand on Sunday when His Majesty the King issued a royal command to appoint her.

Thaksin has not concealed his dislike for Prawit, blaming him for the complaint against Srettha in the Constitutional Court. Srettha was accused by a group of 40 outgoing junta-appointed senators of breaching ethical standards by appointing Pichit Chuenban as a Cabinet member despite Pichit being jailed once for contempt of court.

Party sources added that Thaksin was also infuriated that Prawit, who is Palang Pracharath leader and party-list MP, did not vote either for Srettha or Paetongtarn when the elections were held for prime minister in Parliament. On Friday, Prawit skipped the House meeting and so he did not vote for Paetongtarn.

Although Prawit is the party leader, the power and control of the party is known to rest with Thamanat who commands the loyalty of most of the party’s MPs.

Sources said Thamanat is expected to be a deputy prime minister and agriculture minister in Paetongtarn’s Cabinet, while Santi Promphat, former deputy public health minister in the Srettha Cabinet, is expected to be the natural resources and environment minister.

Sources added that Santi had been approached to defect to Pheu Thai with some 10 MPs loyal to him before the next election.

According to sources after Srettha was removed from office, Thaksin called a meeting of core Pheu Thai leaders and leaders of coalition partners immediately to discuss the composition of the next coalition government.

It was agreed during the meeting that the composition of the coalition would not be changed and no new partner would be brought in as the coalition already enjoys strong stability in the House.

The partners would receive the same share of Cabinet seats as in the previous government, the sources said, but some partners might take the chance to change their own minister nominees.

Sources in Bhumjaithai said the party would not change its ministers and those who were in the Srettha Cabinet preferred the same posts in the new government.