Red-shirt Natthawut tipped to join Cabinet
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Red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua might become a minister in the first Cabinet reshuffle, a source said yesterday.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called a meeting with certain ministers and potential candidates to sign a form verifying their qualifications, the source said.
Besides Natthawut, Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha and Transport Minister Sukampol Suwannathat were summoned, the source said.
Natthawut might become a PM’s Office minister, replacing Kitsana Seehalak, while General Yuthasak and Sukampol might be moved to other ministries.
The ruling Pheu Thai Party wants to take the Agriculture Ministry away from the Chart Thai Pattana Party after the country was hit by the flood crisis last year, the source said.
Kijja Pholphasi, a member of the Strategy Formulation Committee for Water Resources Management, might succeed Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut if he is shown the door, the source said.
The prime minister was thinking of taking back the Agriculture portfolio from the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, which would take the industry minister’s seat from the Ruam Chart Pattana Party. The latter would then take Pheu Thai’s Labour seat, the source said.
Aree Krainara, secretary to the interior minister and a red-shirt leader, said the Cabinet line-up would be changed late this month after Chinese New Year.
The aim was not to save the administration but to mobilise the government’s policies for the people’s interest, he said.
Some ministers lacked expertise in their job, so restructuring the Cabinet would bring more efficiency, he said.
The portfolios likely to see new faces were Education, Transport, Industry and Finance, which need professionals to take charge, but Pheu Thai would not dump the agriculture minister as it respects its coalition partners, he added.
