Thailand's newly elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Friday that he expected the cabinet line-up of the coalition government would be forwarded to the King for endorsement in two days, after minor adjustments was made.
"There will be six deputy prime ministers and two ministers to the prime minister's office. The cabinet secretary-general is in the process of checking on all the candidates before their names are forwarded to His Majesty the King for approval," Samak was quoted by leading English newspaper Bangkok Post as saying at its website.
Samak said he was optimistic about the submission of the cabinet line-up within the next days.
Samak, who was elected as Thailand's 25th prime minister on Monday, shrugged off the reported plan of the opposition Democrat Party to set up a shadow cabinet to monitor the new government's performance.
"That's their problem. But how can they have a shadow cabinet when we don't even have the real one yet?" said Samak.
The Democrat Party, the sole opposition party in the country's newly elected parliament, will announce its "Shadow Cabinet" line-up after the coalition government announces its cabinet, the party's leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday.
Abhisit said the Shadow Cabinet would be ready a few days after the Cabinet members endorsement. The Democrats would assign its personnel to take care of ministerial work in parallel with the People Power Party-led government.
The Shadow Ministers must follow the work of each ministry and suggest solutions to problems. The Shadow Cabinet will also have weekly meeting, but the day has yet to be designated later, said Abhisit.
Abhisit made the remarks during the party's seminar in Pattaya to adjust its strategies after the Dec. 23, 2007 election, which has seen the People Power Party, with Samak as its leader and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra its strongest supporter, grab most seats in the House of Representatives and form a coalition government with five smaller parties to leave the Democrat alone on the opposition bench in the parliament.
The Democrat Party, which won 165 seats in the 480-member Housein the election, will also discuss to reshuffle its executives list and the party's structure as part of the strategies to meet its goal to get at least 240 seats in the next election, according to Abhisit.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article