Prayut must take oath of allegiance, declare govt policy direction before performing duties as new
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has to take an oath of allegiance and declare the government’s policy direction before performing his duties as the new premier, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Tuesday.
It was expected that the retired general, who was elected as premier by Parliament last week, would receive royal endorsement Tuesday afternoon, but the ministers in his first Cabinet have not yet been named due to ongoing horse trading over portfolios.
Wissanu, who is a legal expert, said there was no fixed date to form a new government, so the current Cabinet would continue to perform their duties until Prayut and his new Cabinet are sworn in, and the new government’s policy announcement is delivered in Parliament.
“There are two steps the PM must take before performing his duties. The first is to take an oath of office, and then to declare the government’s policy direction,” the deputy PM said.
“Moreover, the current Cabinet and premier can work until the new [PM and] Cabinet takes these two steps. Also, the National Council for Peace and Order’s power will end eventually [once those steps are taken],” he added.
Wissanu said that, with or without a new Cabinet by then, Prayut as premier would be chairman of the 34th Asean Summit, which takes place in Bangkok on June 22-23.