Thailand’s Prime Minister-elect Anutin Charnvirakul has named a former finance ministry official, a top oil and gas executive, and a respected diplomat to run the finance, energy and foreign ministries, respectively.
Anutin announced the appointments on Saturday, saying his first cabinet picks would “bring confidence” to a country shaken by political and economic upheaval.
He said economist Ekniti Nitithanprapas, energy executive Auttapol Rerkpiboon and diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow were “top executives in the organisations they will be responsible for”.
Ekniti is a finance ministry official who was once seen as a candidate for central bank governor, while Auttapol helmed the country’s largest company, the state-owned energy firm, PTT Group.
The foreign service will see former permanent secretary Sihasak return as minister as a fragile truce with neighbouring Cambodia holds, after a border clash flared into a five-day conflict that left at least 43 dead in July.
The appointments, which will become official after receiving royal approval, came a day after Anutin was elected the prime minister, outmanoeuvring the most successful political party in Thailand’s history.
Anutin’s rout of rival contender Chaikasem Nitisiri on Friday was a humiliation for the ruling Pheu Thai party, the populist juggernaut of influential billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who left Thailand late on Thursday for Dubai, where he spent the bulk of his 15 years of self-imposed exile.
The political crisis was triggered in June by Anutin’s withdrawal from Pheu Thai’s alliance, followed by last week’s dismissal by a Thai court of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter and protege.
The Supreme Court is due to rule on Tuesday on Thaksin’s hospital stay following his return from exile in August 2023, a verdict some analysts say could see him jailed. Thaksin, who was cleared of a royal insult case by the Constitutional Court last month, had promised that he would return to Thailand for the verdict.
Anutin, a conservative with a pull across party lines, won power after forging a pact with the progressive opposition People’s Party, the largest force in parliament, obtaining its support with promises to hold a referendum on amending the constitution and call an election within four months.
Late on Friday, he urged unity, saying all sides had to work together to “move our country forward in the speed that could compensate the opportunities that were lost” and that the government would “strictly enforce the law”.
“There will be no helping hands to anyone, it will not be used to abuse anyone, and there will be no seeking of revenge on anyone.”
Anutin previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister, but is perhaps most famous for delivering on a promise to decriminalise cannabis in 2022. He also assumes the office during a crucial time for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, where growth has been lagging amid months of political instability.
The post Thailand’s PM-elect names veterans to cabinet in bid to ‘bring confidence’ appeared first on Al Jazeera.
