Thaksin saviour and weakest link for PM Yingluck

After leading the country for eight months, the first female prime minister of Thailand faces several problems. 

 The most troublesome issue for her right now is her brother’s desire to return to Thailand. Thaksin has frequently sent a strong signal that he may come back sooner rather than later. 

 “The signal makes the prime minister uncomfortable because there are already problems enough in the country. What the prime minister wants is to fix all the problems. The Thaksin matter should wait for the right time” to be solved, said a source close to Yingluck. 

 Apart from the issue of whether her brother is about return, Yingluck’s government still lacks unity, which has been the case since she formed her administration. 

 The allocation of Cabinet seats and the sharing of benefits is dependent on the quotas of the factions inside the ruling Pheu Thai Party. The relations behind these factions are also at odds, especially Yaowapa Wongsawat and Pojaman na Pombejra, who are reportedly fighting for the spoils.

 Key factions inside the party are the one headed by Thaksin’s sister Yaowapa, overseeing the Commerce and Justice ministries; the Baan Chan Song La faction of Thaksin’s former wife Pojaman, overseeing the Transport and Education ministries; the Sudarat Keyuraphan and Bangkok MPs faction, overseeing the Information and Communications Technology Ministry; and Yongyuth Tiyapairat’s faction, overseeing the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

 Conflicts among these factions have led to turmoil in the Yingluck government. 

 And most important, Yingluck has been overlooked by her Cabinet members, who do not listen to the prime minister but rather opt to follow their faction leaders |and Thaksin’s orders.

 Hence it is not surprising to see Yingluck repeatedly having to ask ministers about progress on the same old issues in the weekly Cabinet meetings – for example, about the water-management plan and the tackling of haze from forest fires and airborne dust particles in the North.

 Some may feel sympathetic towards the PM. At the latest Cabinet meeting on Monday, Yingluck was the first person to turn up – there was not a single one of her ministerial team in the room when she arrived. 

 Although Yingluck has gained experience during her time in office, the task of being the nation’s leader is not an easy one, especially for a political novice. There was a report that Yingluck used to surrender her ideas during the early period of her administration, but, fortunately for her, Thaksin came to her rescue on several occasions.

 While her brother is Yingluck’s weakest link, ironically he is the man the prime minister has needed the most.

 Thaksin is well aware of his sister’s problem, so he intends undertaking a big Cabinet reshuffle after the 111 banned politicians are allowed to return to political office next month. Those in the current batch of ministers who were appointed as a reward, as well as those whose performance has been poor, will be ousted from their posts. 

 Besides some of the 111 banned politicians re-entering the Cabinet, other high-profile and outstanding figures will be appointed as ministers in the reshuffle, a Pheu Thai Party leader said, adding that those ministers who have performed well, will however remain in the ministerial team.

 “The honeymoon is over [for those who have not performed well]. It’s time for professional figures,” Thaksin has been quoted as saying. 

 However, Thaksin could be wrong if he thinks he can be his sister’s saviour every time she gets into trouble. All he has done is tackle the immediate impact of the problems, but not the root causes. 

 As long as the de facto leader remains powerful and overshadows the actual prime minister, the real problems will not be solved. Thaksin may have enabled his sister to become the country’s leader, but at the same time he could be the cause of her eventual downfall.