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New Thai parliament convenes

People Power Party leader Samak Sundaravej, right, and party deputy Yongyuth Tiyapairat take part in a group photograph outside parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Thailand's parliament was to convene yesterday for the first time since last month's election, dominated by allies of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra after the People Power Party (PPP) cobbled together a coalition.

One of their first big tasks after the new prime minister is named later this week will be to restore confidence in an economy bashed by instability and a series of policy blunders by the previous junta-appointed government.

The PPP won 233 of the 480 seats up for grabs in last month's elections -- the first since the 2006 military coup ousted Thaksin -- but it took weeks of tense negotiations before it managed draw five smaller parties into its government.

Now jockeying is underway for the plum cabinet posts, with analysts and local press predicting battles between the parties, which share 315 seats, and also with the military, which is keen to hold on to its influence.

"The government is comprised of many parties, which will bargain for the best ministries, and they will come up with different policies," said Sukhum Chaleysub, an analyst from Bangkok's Rajabhat Suan Dusit university.

"There will be a lot of bargaining," he said.

Much speculation in the press has focused on the Ministry of Defense, with reports of a back-room deal reached between the new government and the junta to have former army chief General Prawit Wongsuwan at the helm.

Analysts have said that the junta will also attempt to retain its influence by populating the Senate with allies. The nomination process for the Senate's 150 seats, nearly half of which are appointed, also began yesterday.

PPP leader Samak Sundaravej -- a charismatic but combative right-winger -- is widely expected to be nominated as prime minister on Friday.

The local press has also touted Surapong Suebwonglee, a former government spokesman under Thaksin and one of his close confidants, as finance minister.

Surapong, now secretary-general of the PPP, yesterday refused to confirm or deny whether he had been approached for the post, but said that the finance role was of key importance.

"The talk of a cabinet line-up will be more serious after we know who will be the prime minister. All earlier news is speculation," he said. "All positions related to economics are important positions, which will solve the crisis and drive the country."

The PPP has been tight-lipped about its policies, but ran on a platform almost identical to Thai Rak Thai, the party formed by Thaksin but dissolved by a junta-appointed tribunal after his ouster.

A key pre-election promise was to shore up the economy, which is expected to grow by 4.5 percent this year, which ranks among the lowest in Southeast Asia, with consumer confidence plummeting to five-year lows due to prolonged political uncertainty under military rule.
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