Public Pledges, Private Demands Are Shaping The Yingluck Go

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WATCHDOG

Public pledges, private demands are shaping the Yingluck Govt

By Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

A total of 296 Pheu Thai members of parliament plus those of five other parties yesterday voted in Yingluck Shinawatra as the country's 28th prime minister.

Of the 496 MPs who cast their votes in the 500-seat House, 197 abstained while three voted against the Yingluck bid.

After a royal command is issued for Yingluck to take up her role as prime minister, she will have the mandate to form her first Cabinet.

The new Cabinet is shaping up, with Thirachai Puvanart-naranuban, the outgoing secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, likely to replace Dr Vichit Suraphongchai as the new finance minister.

Siam Commercial Bank has already issued a statement, saying that Dr Vichit would stay on as the bank's executive chairman. Over the past two weeks, Vichit has been tipped as the front-running candidate for the finance portfolio.

He reportedly turned down the offer at the last minute after his negotiations with the Pheu Thai Party to bring in sugar tycoon Issara Wongkusolkij as commerce minister, broke down.

As a result, the finance portfolio will likely go to Thirachai, who has already tendered his resignation as the SEC secretary-general.

Regarding the commerce portfolio, the front-runner for the post is still Kittirat Na Ranong, the ex-president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, who is currently president of Shinawatra University.

As for the energy portfolio, there are two top candidates - Prasert Bunsamphun, the outgoing CEO of PTT Plc, and Pichai Nariptaphun, a senior Pheu Thai executive.

However, Prasert might not get the energy portfolio as earlier forecasted.

Yongyuth Vichai-dit will likely be appointed the justice minister because fugitive ex-premier Thaksin wants a trusted person to hold this post, reports Matichon Online.

As a result, Pol-General Pracha Promnuok is favourite to get the post of interior minister, which was earlier earmarked for Yongyuth, who is officially the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party.

Former premier Thaksin also wants ACM Sumet Po-manee, one of his closest confidants, to be the transport minister

The foreign affairs portfolio will likely go to Thailand's envoy to Norway Julapong Nonsri-chai or to Padermchai Sasomsub, who is trusted by Thaksin and his ex-wife Pojaman.

Overall, it looks like the first Yingluck Cabinet will need to serve multiple purposes. First, it will have to fulfil the party's diverse and extremely challenging election promises. Second, the new government has to fulfil Thaksin's wishes.

The election promises will cost an estimated Bt1.85 trillion. The party says that state budgets will provide Bt742 billion in funding. In addition, the new government will borrow Bt199 billion from offshore sources and another Bt685 billion from domestic sources to finance the infrastructure schemes pledged during the election.

The remainder of the funding will come from the private sector's co-investments, totalling Bt277 billion.

To meet its pledges, the first Yingluck Cabinet also has to raise the daily minimum wage to Bt300 nationwide within the first six months, while raising the minimum starting salary for new college graduates to Bt15,000 per month.

In addition it will need to guarantee a paddy price of Bt15,000 per tonne, among other extremely testing campaign promises.

Election pledges aside, the Yingluck government must satisfy Thaksin's wishes, meaning the choice of justice, foreign and other key ministers will be personally decided by the man in Dubai.

-- The Nation 2011-08-06

[ramrod711]

i would like to see the lady succeed but she is going to have to prove that she has an identity of her own. the way the cabinet choices are being made makes her look less like a clone than a puppet.

[cup-O-coffee]

- A source close to Yingluck has said she can be bossy and demanding at work, a far cry from the sweet image portrayed in public;...

The issue that she is a woman; exerting what is right for people of all genders, will be sorely missed.

The issue that she is a woman, and on that alone, culturally, will be the one that flies in the face of face. That will be the greatest regret; that a man cannot do what's right because a woman stands before him. That is how culturally damaging this issue will be to the political process. When the sparks fly, the "woman" issue will pop up.

It will be a very short time before we see how she handles the "men" and the cultural status that is attributed to a women when the woman is the big boss.

I suspect that she is also aware that she is paving the way for future female candidates, who are watching how she fills the role, and how she deals with this cultural barrier to progress and positive building between men and women in Thailand.

[bigbamboo]

It doesn't matter who's on the calculator if the figures won't add up.