Article 112

Thaksin: New line-up to end bird flu, unrest

POST REPORTERS

The latest cabinet reshuffle leaves a lot to be desired as it will do little to end southern violence, the bird flu crisis and corruption _ instead catering only to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's need to salvage his government's sinking popularity, critics and the opposition said yesterday.

They doubted the new line-up would help the government claw its way back into the public trust.

Reform advocate Prawase Wasi said Mr Thaksin formed his 10th cabinet purely for politics, not for the people.

``But we'd better not contradict the prime minister when he said he meant for the new cabinet to solve those problems,'' Dr Prawase said yesterday.

The government would find it hard to survive if it could not tackle those three problems. Adding the rising oil price to the host of troubles already dogging the government, the Thaksin administration could even collapse.

Dr Prawase called the southern unrest, bird flu crisis, corruption and economic difficulties jaturavinas _ four disasters _ that could eventually topple the government. ``These four things can cause the government to fall,'' he said.

``No one is hurting the government but the government itself.''

The reform advocate said Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh knew best how to handle the southern violence, but Mr Thaksin took his power away.

Also, he said, there was no way the bird flu outbreak could be contained in one month as ordered by the prime minister.

Mahachon party leader Anek Laothammathat said Mr Thaksin might have already realised that his Thai Rak Thai party could not win more than 250 House seats in the general election due in February next year, so he had to do everything he could in the four months left to lift up the party's approval rating. This included reshuffling his cabinet again, for the ninth time.

``But I don't think that will help. When people are made to eat the same food for a long time, they become bored,'' Mr Anek said.

He said Mr Thaksin had only muddied the waters by making non-stop changes to the way southern unrest has been dealt with, including command and operation structures and strategies.

``Some Muslims have even said to me that if Mr Thaksin continues to solve problems this way Thailand will have fewer than 76 provinces left,'' Mr Anek said.

The Campaign for Popular Democracy said all nine cabinet reshuffles proved unable to solve the crises as old faces with disappointing performances were still kept in the government.

It said repeated failure meant the prime minister, who directed policy implementation, should be the first to go, not his ministers.

Analyst Anat Arbhabhirama, however, said it was the first time a reshuffle was made in response to a public appeal for peace in the deep South, protection from the bird flu disease and elimination of corruption.

Mr Anat said Deputy Public Health Minister Suchai Charoenrattanakul, Deputy Education Minister Aree Wong-araya and Agriculture Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha were all the right men for the right jobs.

Mr Thaksin, meanwhile, said he had asked all ministers to focus on three things in doing their jobs _ devotion, efficiency and transparency _ and that they must not be worried about having to raise funds for the party, about not being able to be part of a group and about not having MPs as their supporters.

The reshuffle was purely to fight the bird flu crisis and strengthen southern security, he said.

However, he skirted the question of whether Phinij Jarusombat and Somsak Thepsuthin were relieved of the industry and agriculture portfolios and made deputy prime ministers because they had allegedly caused a ``certain problem''.

Mr Thaksin said Dr Suchai was brought into the cabinet to deal with the bird flu disease as he is a respiratory system specialist.

Defence Minister Samphan Boonyanant would be a ``dynamo'' behind the security campaign in the South, while Mr Aree, a Muslim, and Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengprathum would work together in putting in order Islamic schools and teachers, some of whom were suspected of involvement in a spate of violence in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Mr Thaksin said he could not say this week's reshuffle would be the last.