New govt to decide on Egat chief as EC rejects Cabinet’s appointment
The Election Commission (EC) has rejected the Cabinet’s appointment of the new governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) on grounds that it was not urgent, a Government House source said.
According to the source, the caretaker Cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was informed during the weekly Cabinet meeting of the EC’s decision to reject the appointment of the new Egat governor.
As a result, the outgoing Cabinet would leave it to the next government to make a decision on the appointment, the source said.
On May 2, the caretaker Cabinet endorsed the nomination of Thepparat Theppitak as the new Egat governor.
The election law requires appointments of new senior state officials by a caretaker government be approved by the EC first to ensure the outgoing government does not abuse its authority to have an election advantage through the appointments.
According to the source, the EC rejected the appointment on grounds that it was not urgent as the current Egat governor, Boonyanit Wongrukmit, would be in his position until August 21. So, there was still time for the new Cabinet to consider his replacement.
Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri confirmed later that the Cabinet would not take up the matter with the EC and instead would leave it to the next government.
However, if the new government is not set up in time, the Cabinet would reaffirm its decision to the EC, Anucha added.
