Power, fear and loathing
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been bombarded with questions by reporters about a cabinet reshuffle which might cost many former military top brass their ministerial posts.
Gen Prayut could not contain his frustration this week when he was asked to comment on the raging speculation that more civilians might be invited to replace ex-military ministers, who make up around onethird of the cabinet.
However, political scientists reckon the time has come for the executive branch to shed many of the ex-soldiers who have been in the cabinet since the 2014 coup.
In an interview with the media, Gen Prayut said he could not figure out why the critics were aghast at the presence of soldiers in the cabinet. By way of a reminder, he said it was the military who stepped in during the height of the political crisis to defuse the deadlock in national administration that culminated in the coup which toppled the Pheu Thai Partyled government in May 2014.
He added the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had filled the vacuum of power in the months after the coup and before the government was formed later that year.
“So, who bore the responsibility [of running the country]?” he said.
“Well, to be honest I haven’t got the foggiest idea why the military is the subject of so much loathing,” Gen Prayut added.
The military has paved the way for positive changes including reforms, which the next government can pick up where the current one leaves off after a general election which will probably be held toward the end of next year, according to the prime minister.
Some political scientists believe the business of running the cabinet should now be placed chiefly in the hands of civilians as the NCPO has done quite a bit of “paving the way”.
They argue the country has long moved past the initial, post-coup, dust-settling phase in which peace and order had to be maintained and which required the military to exert its presence.
The politicians were sidelined to allow the NCPO to do what it had to do to reset the rules of the game and reinforce security, so there was adequate justification for men in uniform to be assigned cabinet duties in the initial period after the coup, according to the experts.
However, with about a year to go before the roadmap for national administration reaches the general election mark, the argument in favour of the necessity to retain the military prevalence in the cabinet has been called into question, the experts said.
They think the government is already at “cruising altitude” and the cabinet no longer requires as much chaperoning from the military as over the past few years.
Except for national security-related ministers, the ministries which could be better directed by civilian professionals with the relevant expertise should be left to non-military figures to run. The scaling back of military dominance would help spur the confidence of many people and investors who may feel rather jittery about the idea of the NCPO refusing to give up power, according to the political scientists.
However, the experts said the military has won wide support from many people, including those who mounted protest against the previous Yingluck Shinawatra government. Some of them have made it known they are not troubled and couldn’t really care less if no election is organised next year. They feel the military should stay put to see national reforms take hold first, the experts claimed.