‘Female cook’ braves slurs
For the first time since becoming a government spokeswoman, Narumon Pinyosinwat held a Q&A session this week to answer concerns over her role in politics.
The statistics professor has been the target of some rather unflattering remarks about her work as head of the government spokesperson team. One critic even labelled her and her assistants, made up of two deputy spokeswomen, as the “female cook trio”, an allusion to a popular household brand of canned sardines.
The description, slammed by critics as disparagingly sexist, was apparently meant to convey the feeling among some government opponents that they had been unsophisticated and mediocre in their performances so far.
A communications expert said the label was unfair to the trio — and Ms Narumon in particular — although her limited political profile prior to her joining the government may have led some people to doubt her ability to handle such a high-profile political position.
After the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) elected Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon as its new leader and Anucha Nakasai as secretary-general at the weekend, speculation swirled about Ms Narumon’s chances of leaping up the political ladder and landing on top of the pile as finance minister in the next cabinet reshuffle, replacing Uttama Savanayana, who has also just lost the PPRP leadership.
Lending weight to her prospects was Mr Anucha, who confirmed Ms Narumon would have a prominent role in the party’s economic team, his comment interpreted by political analysts as a credible indication that Ms Narumon was a heartbeat away from clinching the finance portfolio.
It was actually several weeks ago, when the dust over the PPPR leadership contest had not even settled, that Ms Narumon was first tipped for the post of deputy finance minister.
Now that the PPRP has sworn in its new leader, with an ensuing cabinet shake-up believed to be likely sooner rather than later, Ms Narumon may already enjoy solid support within the ruling party to go one step further and actually become finance minister.
However, her possible bid to assume the top job has been greeted with brickbats rather than roses and Ms Narumon is highly sensitive to the reaction to her possible appointment.
The communications expert agreed that while Ms Narumon was no stranger in the higher echelons of the country’s economic sector — she was a consultant on the stock market and the banking system for more than 10 years and served as a board member in the private sector — many people were keen to know if she had any meaningful experience as the “real deal” in key decisions at financial organisations or businesses.
Ms Narumon has laughed off the suggestion that she was a “backstabber” who had betrayed Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, regarded by many as the economic czar. Mr Somkid was known to have introduced Ms Narumon, professor at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), to politics.
Of the allegation that she backstabbed her one-time friend, Ms Narumon told reporters: “That is only your interpretation of events.”
During the reported power struggle in the PPRP that culminated in its leadership change, however, Ms Narumon was thought to have forged a close bond with Gen Prawit and was even pictured among PPRP heavyweights who recently called on the deputy prime minister to formally extend an invitation to him to lead the ruling party.
Political observers noted that Mr Somkid, who currently heads the government’s economic team including the finance minister, might see his political fortunes waning, while Ms Narumon’s head in the opposite direction.
This coincides with a feeling that the Somkid-led economic team is on shaky ground ahead of the upcoming cabinet reshuffle and is heading for an uncertain future.
The observers said if Ms Narumon were to succeed Mr Uttama as finance minister, she would face an uphill battle trying to manage the country’s economic affairs.
Should Mr Somkid not return to the cabinet in the next refresh of the line-up, the new finance minister would have to direct the ministry unaided by a “strong hand” who is well respected by movers and shakers in the economic sector. The new finance minister would then need to be able to stand firmly on his or her own feet, a quality commonly found only among well-established and experienced figures, according to the observers.
Although Ms Narumon has denied her role in the PPRP has anything to do with the composition of a future cabinet reshuffle, she has not ruled out becoming a PPRP candidate for a ministerial post.