Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej announced plans yesterday for a major Cabinet reshuffle following a series of legal battles that forced three of his ministers out of office.
The new Cabinet line-up will be announced later this month, Samak said, implying that he might wait for a decision late this month in yet another court case that could force three more of his ministers to suspend their duties.
“I will absolutely reshuffle the Cabinet. It will be a big reshuffle to make the Cabinet better and stronger,” he said in his weekly television program.
“In the past, when people became ministers, it was an honor. But now they arrive in office with one leg in jail,” he said.
Last week, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama resigned after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated the charter by signing a controversial deal with Cambodia over a disputed Hindu temple on the border.
The court also forced out the health minister for concealing his wife’s assets when he took office.
A junior minister earlier resigned in May after he was charged with offending Thailand’s revered king in a speech about the 2006 coup against then-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Three more ministers, including Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, may have to suspend their duties if the Supreme Court decides later this month to take up a case accusing them of corruption in a lottery scandal.
The legal battles have opened the door to even more investigations that could lead to Samak’s impeachment and the dissolution of the ruling People Power Party (PPP).
Meanwhile, Samak said yesterday that he would press ahead with his controversial drive to amend the Constitution to prevent the courts from dismantling his party.
Under the charter, the courts can disband an entire political party if one top executive is found guilty of vote fraud.
Yongyut Tiyapairat, the deputy PPP leader, was found guilty of vote buying last week by the Supreme Court.
“When the parliamentary session opens, we will move to amend the charter, we have reasons to do this,” Samak said.
Samak insisted he was not acting out of self-interest, saying that the main opposition Democrat Party was also being threatened with dissolution.
“If all the political parties were disbanded, the country would suffer,” he said.
Samak’s proposal to make changes to the army-backed charter sparked street protests seven weeks ago by the so-called People’s Alliance for Democracy, whose rallies in 2006 led to a coup against Thaksin.
In May, Samak had proposed holding a referendum on whether to amend the Constitution. He did not say yesterday whether he would still organize a vote or simply ask parliament to approve the changes.
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