Top Cop : Deadlock Remains

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APPOINTMENT SAGA

Top Cop : Deadlock remains

By The Nation

Published on September 17, 2009

Top Cop : Deadlock remains

PM's pick 5-4 in favour, but 'complexities' force delay

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday suffered yet another humiliating setback in the protracted police-chief row when the divided Police Commission again failed to endorse his candidate.

Trying to downplay the political consequences of the fresh delay, which has apparently aggravated his increasingly shaky relationship with the Bhum Jai Thai Party, Abhisit said there was no problem with moving prudently on the selection of a new police chief.

However, for the first time he admitted that a lack of consensus was blocking efforts to find a replacement for retiring Patcharawat Wongsuwan.

A source said Abhisit might be edging closer to his last option: appointing an "acting" police chief if the stalemate could not be broken this month.

"Please accept it if I end up having to do to that," the source quoted him as telling the board.

The source said board members voted five to four in favour of Abhisit's choice of Pol General Patheep Tanprasert but that political complexities surrounding the nomination forced the new delay.

Rival choice Pol General Jumpol Manmai is known to have very strong backing outside the Police Commission, and lobbying was said to have reached fever pitch in the past few days.

On Tuesday, the all-clear sign seemed to be out for Patheep's nomination to sail through. But hints of trouble later came from Bhum Jai Thai strongman Newin Chidchob, who, when asked by reporters what would happen if Jumpol did not win, said: "That will be a 'run for yourself situation."

The five pro-Abhisit panel members met for over an hour before the meeting was convened at 3pm at Government House.

CLOUT IN QUESTION

The session took only about 30 minutes, after which Abhisit led all nine members in front of a press conference to announce that the issue remained unresolved.

Abhisit's clout over the police board, which consists primarily of security and justice-related ministers and top bureaucrats, has been in question due to the unfinished police business, and the new hold-up means the prime minister will bear the brunt of the backlash.

Some insiders, however, praised Abhisit for making the brave decision to postpone the voting and thus take all the blame.

While the five-four division within the board remained, the postponement also has a lot to do with the pro-Abhisit side being uncomfortable with other complications outside the commission, those sources claimed.

Among those championing Jumpol are Democrat power broker Suthep Thaugsuban and senior Democrat Niphon Promphan.

The rift within the board cannot be easily overcome, particularly because Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul from the Bhum Jai Thai Party leads the opposing camp.

Board members cannot be changed unless they resign or are removed from their ministerial or bureaucratic posts and thus automatically stripped of police-board membership.

At the press conference following the board meeting, Abhisit said the naming of a new police chief had to be further deferred.

"We had a unanimous decision that it was in the country's best interest to have more time for the selection process to get a real consensus on the appointment of the new national police chief. And if it becomes necessary for the process to go beyond September 30, we still have a legal stopgap measure, which is to appoint an acting police chief in the meantime."

Abhisit is scheduled to visit the United Nations in New York from September 20-26.

The unsettled police-chief issue will hound that trip in addition to possible tensions arising from a planned red-shirt rally on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra.

-- The Nation 2009/09/17