Crucial Choice For PM Yingluck In Picking Next Spokesperson

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BURNING ISSUE

Crucial choice for PM in picking next spokesperson

Piyanart Srivalo

BANGKOK: -- Apart from reshuffling almost half of the Cabinet and nearly all of the advisers and secretaries to ministers, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has also revamped her government spokesman team.

Titima Chaisang was named on Tuesday as deputy-secretary general to the PM and will serve under Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong. She also holds the position of acting government spokesperson.

Titima's concurrent roles are understandable, given that Yingluck is looking for a new spokesperson but desperately wants to make the correct choice. If there is no better option available to the premier, Titima could remain as acting spokesperson, just like Panitan Wattanayagorn did when he was deputy-secretary general and acting government spokesman in Abhisit Vejjajiva's administration. But this seems unlikely when considering her previous performance.

However, Titima seems happy with the current situation, saying she was not keen on taking on the job of spokesperson. "So, now I can fully help the PM and have time to visit my political base," she said, adding that Pheu Thai is seeking a suitable and qualified choice from within its ranks.

Earlier, several candidates popped up as potential replacements for Titima, such as former deputy health minister Torpong Chaiyasarn; Wim Rungwattanajinda, secretary to a PM's Office minister; and Suparat Nakboonnam, the former deputy government spokesman in Samak Sundaravej's administration.

However, those names failed to impress key figures in the party. In fact, the previous performance of members of the current government spokesman team - Titima, deputy spokeswoman Anuttama Amornwiwat and deputy spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ad - has been criticised from the outset, having failed to pass an evaluation by the party.

The team is seen as not being united, each regarded as trying to steal the show from the others.

Pheu Thai has learnt a lesson from the appointment of the current team, when it clung to quotas inside the party but did not pay sufficient attention to qualifications. This means the party now has high expectations about the next government spokesman.

A strong candidate for the post is Pheu Thai Party-list MP Nitipoom Navarat, a source from the ruling party said on Tuesday. Nitipoom seems to be qualified, and his name came up after deputy spokesman Anusorn said the new spokesperson should be excellent in English.

"Pheu Thai wants the new spokesperson to have high qualifications, a good academic [achievement] and earning a doctorate from a foreign university such as Oxford, and someone who can argue political issues well," Anusorn said.

Apart from academic qualifications, the new spokesman has to be someone who can deliver orders from the PM's advisory team, such as banned Thai Rak Thai politicians Suranand Vejjajiva and Prommin Lertsuridej, who help the premier on public relations strategy. The PR strategy includes promotion of the government's image and clarification of its performance, as well as defending and counterattacking the opposition.

Who is to be the new spokesman may become clearer after Yingluck returns from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday.

The revamping of the government's PR strategy includes the appointment of PM's Office Minister Nivatthamrong Boonsongpaisal, who has been put in charge of state-run media outlets, including the Public Relations Department and MCOT. The new minister will bring with him his former staff from the now-defunct iTV, where he used to be an executive, to help him at Government House.

Moreover, the recent reshuffle marks the first time Yingluck has assigned a minister, PM's Office Minister Nalinee Taveesin, to oversee the government spokesman team with a view to increasing its efficiency.

-- The Nation 2012-01-26

[nurgut73]

Is it really that important who is passing on all those good news?

[Bakseedaa]

Hows about Dorothy Gale.. (Wizard of Ozz) follow the Yellow Brick Road ... to Dubai, (Emerald City) and seek out the Wizard (Guess who ? ) He will make all your wishes come true... If only I had the heart...!