Big job awaits city governor
New Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang may have been appointed to the top job at City Hall through special, authoritarian power but the challenge before him requires both decisive and sensitive approaches. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invoked the power under Section 44 of the provisional charter on Tuesday to remove former governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra and his deputies from office after suspending him without pay on Aug 25 following allegations of misspending state funds on several projects.
In the same order, Pol Gen Aswin, who formerly served as MR Sukhumbhand’s deputy in charge of the Fire and Rescue and City Law Enforcement departments, was named the new governor.
According to the announcement, his term will last until a new gubernatorial election can be held or the prime minister issues a new order.
The new Bangkok governor now reports directly to Gen Prayut, who may remove him from office if he is found to have disgraced the governorship, caused damage to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) or public administration as a whole, or compromised national security and public safety.
Pol Gen Aswin’s mission, both during an immediate and possibly longer term if he stays on, directly involves city dwellers, however.
Upon his taking office, the new governor said he would focus initially on the funeral rites for His Majesty King Bhumibol and facilitate the large number of mourners who are coming from far and wide to pay their respects to the King at the Grand Palace.
Pol Gen Aswin’s priority corresponds to that given by Prime Minister Prayut in his appointment order. However, that is not all.
While providing security measures — keeping order and ensuring that the crowds who turn up at the Grand Palace for the late King are taken care of — are important issues, the city has several other urgent concerns that demand attention.
These concerns are reflected in the premier’s announcement appointing the new governor.
Apart from saying that the appointment was necessary to avoid a vacuum in the city’s administration and public service caused by the former governor’s suspension, the announcement emphasised the need to maintain law and order, the city’s cleanliness, traffic problems and public disaster relief and prevention, among other things.
More importantly, the announcement underlines the necessity for City Hall to investigate projects under its care and see whether there are any corrupt practices involved.
Gen Prayut’s order emphasised that the problem is an urgent and crucial one as it could cause damage to the public administration unless it is tackled quickly.
Considering the various and intricate challenges faced by Pol Gen Aswin, who moved swiftly to appoint his four deputies, one of them being fellow police officer Amnuay Nimmano, a member of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) and former chief of Provincial Police Region 1, the new Bangkok governor will need to come up with a careful strategy consisting of multipronged approaches.
Pol Gen Aswin may have come into the job by authoritarian means but it is obvious that an iron-fisted approach will not get the job done effectively.
Most important of all, the new governor will have to swiftly to restore public confidence in his office which has suffered under allegations of corruption and ineffectiveness during the tenure of MR Sukhumbhand.
Without this trust, the governor’s long list of assignments will never be fulfilled.
City Hall needs to investigate projects under its care.