Row spotlights lack of trust between the Army and govt
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The bickering between Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat and his permanent secretary, General Sathien Permtong-in, is just the tip of an iceberg, but fortunately the government has thwarted a potential collision with the military.
The iceberg in question is the dispensing of assignments in the annual military reshuffle. And the tip of that iceberg is the picking of a successor to Sathien, who is due for mandatory retirement next month.
Even though Sukampol decided yesterday to move Sathien to the PM’s Office, the two still have a good chance to patch up their differences.
The two have no personal grudges against one another. Both men and their close aides are loyal allies of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They are also seen as close to the red-shirt movement.
For about a month, Sukampol has repeatedly hinted that he wants Army assistant chief General Tanongsak Apirakyotin to succeed Sathien.
Sathien had not reacted to Sukampol’s choice until last week. According to his aides, he is pushing for his deputy, General Chatree Tatti, as successor.
Neither Sukampol nor Sathien have formally nominated their respective candidates, hence many see possible doors for negotiations.
Aides of the two have already circulated the name of Chief of Joint Staff General Worapong Sanganet as an alternate candidate.
The picking of Sathien’s successor would not have attracted public attention if Sathien did not request a meeting with PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
The PM’s secretary-general Suranand Vejjajiva made a timely intervention to say Yingluck’s schedule was too busy, and urged the issue be settled within the Defence Ministry.
Suranand correctly pointed out that Yingluck’s involvement would only lead to further politicisation of the issue.
If Sathien’s memo sent to the prime minister last week is any indication, the contentious issue between him and Sukampol is not about who his successor should be but the manner in which the candidate for the job is chosen.
It is common knowledge in military circles that Sukumpol has circulated Tanongsak’s name after consulting with Thaksin. And Sathien has no reason to rebel against his allies Sukampol and Thaksin.
It is noteworthy that Sathien drafted his memorandum after a crucial meeting of the Defence Council, in which military leaders rallied behind Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha.
At that meeting, military leaders made it clear to the government that they would not tolerate any political attempts to weaken the armed forces as an institution.
The meeting took place amid a blame game in which soldiers are being portrayed as killers of the people in the 2010 political strife.
Further, suspicion has lingered for two months that Thaksin is executing a ploy to kick Prayuth “upstairs” once Supreme Commander General Tanasak Patimapragorn retires next year.
Sathien’s questioning of Sukampol’s instruction to name the new permanent secretary and bypass the ministerial panel in charge of vetting job assignments confirms the distrust between the military establishment and the government.
Judging from his remarks in seeking to see Yingluck, Sathien voiced suspicion Sukampol may tamper with military assignments in order to alter the proposed nominations made by the military leaders. This could be done only if Sukampol is allowed to bypass the ministerial panel.
But the brewing storm should blow over if Sukampol can convince military leaders of his pure intent in dispensing job assignments.
