From: kamol@munnari.oz.AU (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Sept 28: Nap dissidents voice objection to cabinet list
Date: 29 Sep 1992 00:04:26 +1000
Organization: Mail/News gateway

NAP dissidents voice objection to cabinet list
 
 
WITH the Cabinet list to be submitted to His Majesty the King tomorrow, 
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's government appears heading into an early 
storm with prospects of an "insurrection" looming large within the New 
Aspiration Party.
 
Northeastern MPs in NAP secretary-general Phisan Mulasartsathorn's faction 
have protested the party Cabinet list submitted to the Prime Minister 
yesterday saying it was not the same as agreed upon between Gen Chavalit 
Yongchaiyudh and Mr Phisan on Saturday.
 
The faction was upset because the list was changed unilaterally by Gen 
Chavalit to include two outsiders in the Cabinet under the New Aspiration 
quota -- Bangkok Bank President Dr Amnuay Virawan as Deputy Prime Minister 
for economic affairs and Federation of Thai Industries chairman Dr 
Narongchai Akkaraseranee as Deputy Industry Minister.
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Chuan said yesterday he would submit the Cabinet 
list to His Majesty for approval at Taksin Palace in Narathiwat tomorrow.
 
The Premier said he would lead his Cabinet to take an oath of allegiance 
before His Majesty on Thursday.
 
He said he had received the full list of Cabinet nominees from the 
coalition parties, including NAP which submitted its line-up only yesterday 
through Col Sornchai Montriwat, an aide to party leader Gen Chavalit 
Yongchaiyudh.
 
But he admitted he was not certain that he would be able to present the 
government's policy statement to Parliament within the second week of 
October.
 
The statement, he said, is being drafted.
 
Personal secretary to Gen Chavalit, Col Sornchai, gave the party Cabinet 
list to Mr Chuan at the Democrat Party headquarters on Setsiri Road 
yesterday afternoon.
 
He met with Mr Chuan for 20 minutes in the presence of Democrat MPs Niphon 
Prompan and Dr Surin Pitsuwan.
 
Col Sornchai said that the list contained the name of 11 ministers for 12 
Cabinet posts, with one minister holding two posts concurrently.
 
He said it was the party's final list provided the defence portfolio would 
go to a non-partisan outsider and that Mr Chuan would not hold another 
Cabinet post simultaneously.
 
The Cabinet list that New Aspiration has submitted was worked out on the 
basis of "suitability and capability" and not according to the proportion 
of MPs from various regions of the country.
 
"This may have upset those who did not get a post," Col Sornchai admitted.
 
Northeastern MPs in the faction loyal to party secretary-general Phisan 
said if the Cabinet line-up to be announced was not the same as the one 
worked out between Mr Phisan and Gen Chavalit on Saturday -- it did not 
include any outsiders under the New Aspiration quota -- then they would 
launch a protest inside the party.
 
One disgruntled faction member said:
 
"If reports of outsiders taking party Cabinet posts are true then the Chuan 
I government may not last long enough before a Chuan II government takes 
over."
 
The source insisted the conflict was not between Gen Chavalit and Mr Phisan 
but between Col Sornchai, a non-MP, and all of the party's MPs.
 
He charged that the changes were made by Col Sornchai because the people 
appointed were close to him.
 
Another faction member vowed:
 
"If Sornchai made the change all 31 northeastern MPs will meet to talk 
about changing the system within the party. Many of us have misgivings 
about Col Sornchai. We are united on this."
 
Col Sornchai told reporters "sacrifices" had to be made in choosing who 
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He said that Gen Chavalit made the final decision and sent the list to him 
for typing at 3 a.m. yesterday.
 
One source in Gen Chavalit's faction sarcastically said the list the Press 
got from the Phisan faction was "80% wrong".
 
He said apart from the two outsiders the New Aspiration ministers are:
 
o Gen Chavalit who will take only the Interior Minister post and give his 
Deputy Prime Minister post to Dr Amnuay.
 
o Den Tohmeena (Pattani MP) -- Deputy Interior Minister.
 
o Tawatwong na Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai) -- Deputy Finance Minister.
 
o Boonchu Trithong (Lampang) -- Prime Minister's Office MinistY.Ix 
o Thavee Kraikupt (Ratchaburi) -- Deputy Communications Minister.
 
o Somsak Kiatsuranan (Khon Kaen) -- Deputy Agriculture Minister.
 
o Mr Phisan Mullasartsathorn (Surin) serving concurrently -- Science 
Minister and Prime Minister's Office Minister.
 
o Paitoon Kaewthong (Pichit) -- Deputy Commerce Minister.
 
o Sangthong Sithales (Kalasin) -- Deputy Education Minister.
 
After the list was submitted to Prime Minister Chuan, Gen Chavalit left for 
"the provinces" and could not be found, according to his aides.
 
Yesterday evening Col Aphiwan Viriyachai, another aide to the New 
Aspiration leader, was sent to the party headquarters to collect the pen 
sketches of the MPs on the Cabinet list and to hand a letter from Gen 
Chavalit to Mr Phisan explaining his action.
 
Mr Phisan refused to accept the letter and told Col Aphiwan that if he 
could not make contact with Gen Chavalit within half an hour he would call 
a Press conference.
 
He then called a meeting at the Princess hotel attended by about 15 members 
in his faction including those left out of the Cabinet line-up.
 
Sources in Gen Chavalit's camp said though there were many northeastern MPs 
in the party who have been elected to Parliament five or six times, they 
only had high school education or diplomas and did not qualify for 
ministerial posts.
 
"Big Jiew (Gen Chavalit) is afraid that if such MPs are made ministers they 
could be easily foiled by civil servants," one source said.
 
He said if the northeastern MPs who missed out on Cabinet seats try to 
cause chaos in the party, Gen Chavalit was prepared to deal with them in a 
decisive manner.
 
"And if the situation got to a point where the stability of the government 
was threatened then NAP would be ready to pull out of the Chuan I 
government and let another party fill its place," the source said.
 
NAP is the second largest partner in the five-party coalition led by the 
Democrats.
 
Col Aphiwan later met Mr Phisan at the Princess Hotel and handed him Gen 
Chavalit's letter.
 
At about 7 p.m. Mr Phisan and the MPs came out of their dinner to meet 
reporters before returning to resume their meeting.
 
Mr Phisan said he still did not know the full facts but from what he had 
been told the northeastern MPs should be treated on a par with MPs from 
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He said he will try and meet Gen Chavalit today to discuss the Cabinet 
list.
 
He said he did not want to hold two posts concurrently and added that 
politicians should follow what they have agreed upon.
 
"Things can still be reviewed. It's not about fighting for posts or rocking 
the government's stability. I will try to get him to review the list before 
it is presented to the King," Mr Phisan said.
 
He asked who was Col Sornchai to submit the list to the Prime Minister 
since he was not even an MP or politician.
 
Gen Chavalit must have an official letter appointing Col Sornchai for the 
task.
 
Mr Phisan, Mr Veera Musikapong and Mr Thavee Kraikupt were appointed to 
coordinate the setting up of the coalition government and should have been 
the ones to submit the list to Mr Chuan, he said.
 
Mr Phisan claimed he was merely having dinner with the MPs to celebrate 
their being elected.
 
The letter from Gen Chavalit, he said, was about matters not related to the 
Cabinet list.
 
Gen Chavalit could negotiate the appointment of the two outsiders with MPs 
but the list has to be reviewed "with reason", he said.
 
Party spokesman Jaturon Chaisaeng said MPs from all the regions were 
dissatisfied with the list and would travel to party headquarters today for 
a meeting.
 
"The party leader (Gen Chavalit) must review the list with the stability of 
the new government his prime concern.
 
"We had already agreed there would be no outsiders under our quota," Mr 
Jaturon said.
 
Roi Et MP Suraporn Danaitangtakul said he believed Prime Minister Chuan 
would not allow this matter to turn into a problem for the whole nation and 
would take appropriate action.
 
He argued that there were capable northeastern MPs to fill Cabinet slots.
 
Organization: Doctoral student, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA