PM should go for courage in cabinet rejig

Speculation about who will be in and who will be out of the next cabinet of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has begun again and its intensity will only increase in coming weeks. The need for an overhaul of the cabinet, or so-called Prayut-4, the fourth reshuffle since then-army chief Prayut undertook the coup on May 22, 2014 that ousted the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, comes after two of his cabinet ministers were picked by HM the King to be on his Privy Council.

Under the constitution, Privy Council members cannot also hold office in a state enterprise or serve in ministerial office.

Gen Prayut’s cabinet now has three seats vacant — the Digital Economy Ministry, Justice Ministry and Education Ministry.

Education Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan and Justice Minister Gen Paiboon Koomchaya have been picked as Privy Council members, while the Digital Economy Ministry has been taken on in caretaker mode by Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, after former ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana resigned in September.

While there are three positions available, the talk is that there are many more positions that could be in for a change. The usual suspects for being reshuffled in the past few cabinet changes have been the likes of Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith and Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn.

This does not include the likes of Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya or Industry Minister Atchaka Sibunruang.

Reports are emerging that the Industry Ministry could be headed by the likes of incumbent Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong which would mean that we may see a new finance minister in place soon.

The upcoming changes are also related to Gen Prayut telling the cabinet that anybody not satisfied with the ministry they are working in could seek a change. This could have prompted a change of mind by many of the ministers who have either not performed well or are not experts their field.

The prime minister too should take the opportunity to revamp his cabinet because it might be his last chance to put the right people in the right job for his remaining one year in office.

In one year, according to his promise, we can expect a new election and a new government should be in place in just about 12 months from today.

This is shaping up as one of the last chances for Gen Prayut to prove his abilities and be remembered as one of the better coup leaders who helped the country’s economy, unlike his predecessors who were criticised and shunned for being bad economic managers.

Even though Gen Prayut made a major overhaul to his economic team during his last big cabinet change about a year ago, the country’s economy has not been as robust as it should have been.

One can blame it on the slowdown in China or the global economy but there is no disguising the fact that many of the problems are domestic issues, such as the slowdown in consumption and investment.

Domestic consumption and investment are keys to driving growth. Even when the global economy is in slowdown mode, domestic consumption through various policies could drive growth and this has been missing to a great extent in Thailand over the past year or so.

Although a few billion baht was given to farmers here and there, the amount of funds handed over is miniscule if the government wants to create a multiplier effect that could propel the economy on to a growth path trajectory.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who is in charge of the economic team, has been trying out many ideas such as tax breaks during the upcoming holiday, and tourism tax breaks, but has yet to come up with anything significant.

What is needed is a dose of extreme measures to boost the economy and that will only come with ministers who are courageous.

As Gen Prayut contemplates his new cabinet line-up, one piece of advice he could heed to is to replace ministers who are bureaucratic in nature.

He should look for more decisive ministers who are willing to push through reforms in their ministries and in the process spur economic growth.

What is needed is a dose of extreme measures to boost the economy.