Pm Denies Reports Chart Thai Pattana To Be Axed From Cabinet In Reshuffle

[Lite Beer]

PM denies reports Chart Thai Pattana to be axed from Cabinet in reshuffle

The Nation on Sunday

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday rejected speculation of an imminent Cabinet shake-up that would see Chart Thai Pattana Party ministers removed.

"There is no such thing, nothing at all," she said of the reported plan to remove Chart Thai Pattana ministers.

"We are preparing for post-flood rehabilitation today. We are working well together," she told reporters after attending a ceremony to mark Constitution Day at the Parliament building. Chart Thai Pattana leader Chumpol Silapa-archa serves as deputy prime minister and tourism and sports minister. The party's other Cabinet members are Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut and Deputy Commerce Minister Siriwat Kachornprasart.

As agriculture minister with oversight of the Royal Irrigation Department, Theera came under attack during the recent House debate on the government's performance in solving flood problems.

Theera declined to comment about the reshuffle reports, saying it was for the prime minister to decide and that he wanted to focus on his work.

Chart Thai Pattana spokesman Watchara Kannika said there had been no signs that a Cabinet reshuffle was imminent, and his party's key members had not discussed the issue. However, the spokesman added that the premier would need a good explanation if the party's ministers were to be removed.

"If any minister from Chart Thai Pattana is to be removed, the premier should talk to the party first. Otherwise, people would think that they did something wrong. However, there is no reason for Chart Thai Pattana's key members to talk to the premier or key members of Pheu Thai, as these are only reports. I am personally confident that none of the party's ministers would be removed," the spokesman said.

Watchara said Theera was well suited to his post, as he is a former director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department and knowledgeable and experienced in water management.

The Democrat Party should file an impeachment motion against Theera if it is dissatisfied with the minister's performance, Watchara said.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai sources, who asked not to be named, said Chart Thai Pattana had been threatened with removal from the coalition unless it swapped the Agriculture portfolio for another.

Amid reports that fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, elder brother of Yingluck, is in Singapore, their sister, Yaowapa Wongsawat, and Warathep Rattanakorn, a former executive of the Thai Rak Thai Party, were seen together at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore Hotel on Friday night.

The two are among the politicians who were banned after Thai Rak Thai's dissolution. They will regain voting rights in late May. A Pheu Thai source had said earlier that a group of key Pheu Thai and Thai Rak Thai members were scheduled to meet Thaksin from Friday to today.

-- The Nation 2011-12-11