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Thai PM defends cabinet as ministers await royal approval

BANGKOK: New Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva on Saturday defended his cabinet against accusations that top jobs were going to unseasoned politicians, as the nation awaited royal approval of the ministerial line-up.

Abhisit has vowed to bring reconciliation to Thailand and boost an economy battered by six months of protests against the last government, which ended on December 3 after a court dissolved the ruling People Power Party (PPP).

Oxford-educated Abhisit was voted in by parliament on December 15 with the help of defecting MPs, but the Democrat Party leader's cabinet has already hit a snag with business leaders criticising some ministers as inexperienced.

Local media reported that the outcry prompted a last-minute change of industry minister, before the list went to the revered king for royal approval late Friday ahead of the official announcement of the line-up.

Speaking at a Democrat Party retreat on the southern island of Samui, British-born Abhisit urged members not to engage in infighting.

A number of key posts have gone to non-Democrat MPs to appease Abhisit's hastily formed coalition, angering some party veterans.

Since May, Thailand has been beset by increasingly disruptive protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The PAD accused the now-defunct PPP of being disloyal to the monarchy and of running Thailand on behalf of Thaksin Shinawatra, the premier ousted in a 2006 coup who lives in exile abroad to escape corruption charges.

PAD protests reached their peak at the end of November when thousands of its supporters occupied Bangkok's two main airports for about a week, stranding up to 350,000 passengers and causing massive economic damage.

The group only ended its siege after the PPP was dissolved over vote fraud charges related to elections it won one year ago, allowing the Democrats to win over former PPP lawmakers and small parties to form the government.

Abhisit has said he wants to bring stability back to the kingdom after the protests and has tried to reach out to Thaksin's supporters, but some of his reported choices for cabinet posts have cast doubt on those promises.

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