Army frowns on nominee for defence minister
The first Cabinet line-up of newly appointed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin appears to have hit a snag after the Royal Thai Armed Forces voiced its disapproval of the candidate for Defence Minister, a news source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party is planning to nominate its party-list MP and chief whip Sutin Klungsang for the defence portfolio, according to earlier reports.
The source said the objection from the military could force Pheu Thai to find a new candidate, this time ideally an outsider, for the Defence Minister position.
If it chooses this path, Pheu Thai will have to eliminate one minister/deputy minister position in its internal candidate list to avoid exceeding the quota of nominating ministers/deputy ministers to the Cabinet, the source said.
It is speculated that Pheu Thai deputy leader Choosak Sirinin, who is shortlisted as deputy prime minister for legal affairs, could be the target for elimination.
The source also speculated that General Natthapon Nakpanich, former Secretary-General of the National Security Council, could be selected as the new Defence Minister as he is a non-Pheu Thai candidate.
General Natthapon, also known as “Big Lek”, has been endorsed by former Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to lead the military in the new government, the source added.
Pheu Thai submitted its first Cabinet line-up to the Cabinet Secretariat to check on Monday. The new PM has indicated that Thailand's new Cabinet should be up and running by mid-September.
