Will a major Cabinet overhaul save this govt?
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It's not a matter of if, but when, the next Cabinet reshuffle will take place. In fact, people wonder whether the change will be significant enough to bring about a major overhaul to shore up the government's performance.
Although Yingluck is regarded as less competent in management than her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, she has been seen in a positive light for her soft approach in dodging hot issues or attacking her rivals. Her critics however wonder whether the PM does not know what to say – or just wants to avoid problems.
Members of the 111 Thai Rak Thai executives are judged by their competency as the A list, while the current Cabinet is seen as only the C list. It’s obvious that the A list team must now come to the government’s rescue.
If Yingluck stubbornly picks from the C list or chooses only candidates she favours to fill her new Cabinet, the government’s days are numbered. The move to woo “outsiders” to rescue the administration is reputedly rejected because problems rocking the government are not only too tough to crack but the government’s popularity has sharply declined. Nobody wants to join a sinking political boat.
Ministers who must be replaced first are those in the Commerce Ministry. The immediate predicament faced by the Yingluck administration is the protest by farmers who have given it seven days to review its decision to reduce the rice pledging scheme. A can of worms is the systematic corruption in the rice pledging scheme that is said to have caused the loss of billions of baht.
Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was clueless about how the scheme arrived at such a state. Even his deputy Nattawut Saikua cannot help him remove public doubt. This could be because he knows only part of the truth, or he knows everything but cannot tell the public, so he finds only lame excuses for his boss.
A source has confirmed Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat na Ranong will definitely not accept being moved to the Commerce Ministry because he “does not want to clean up other people’s shit.”
The Education Ministry gained credit with the free tablet scheme, but time has shown it has lost touch because many schools don’t even have electricity. Students waste time on high-tech gadgets when they cannot fluently read or write Thai. But the tablet policy was one of the government’s major populist policies.
The Education Minister and his deputy have failed to upgrade education standards to prepare the country for the Asean Economic Community. Whatever ideas they’ve produced were controversial – for instance, scrapping the ban on student hair styles, reducing classroom hours, to merge schools and hunt down the culprits in the irregularities in teacher aid exams.
Removing Science & Technology Minister Voravat Auapinyakul will not raise any eyebrows because he’s a man who whips up controversy. The minister is facing uncertainty even though he has strong political back up.
The Social Development and Human Security Ministry has not boosted the government’s popularity by helping the under-privileged and providing Thais with good social welfare. This may be because the minister is always in the PM’s shadow.
Since Dr Pradit Sinthawanarong took the helm at Education, the ministry has been torn by conflict and bad press. One reason: Pradit refuses to compromise to reach understanding. His chances of holding his post are slim.
The Interior Ministry is the number one indicator of the government’s popularity. The minister and his two deputies must answer why they deserve not to be kicked out.
Finally, Government House officials said the government is uneasy about the role of a Deputy PM who always crosses the line and creates adverse publicity unnecessarily. The PM will have to answer – will this particular official be removed because “the buck stops here.”
