Thai PM Prayuth to submit Cabinet line-up within October

Newly-appointed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday that he will submit his Cabinet line-up for royal endorsement within October. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday that he will submit his Cabinet line-up for royal endorsement within October. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BANGKOK - Newly-appointed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday that he will submit his Cabinet line-up for royal endorsement within October.

He unveiled the timeframe in a speech after he received the King's endorsement to become the kingdom's 29th prime minister, The Nation reported.

He also vowed to work with integrity to solve national problems by giving priority to the people and the country, said the newspaper.

General Prayuth was appointed prime minister last Thursday by 191 out of 197 members of the military-dominated national assembly. He was the sole candidate for the post. Approval from King Bhumibol Adulyadej is a formality.

General Prayuth led a May 22 coup, which the military said was necessary to avoid further bloodshed after months of turbulence pitting protesters, including the urban elite and southern Thais, against supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Prayuth, who is due to retire as army chief in September, moved quickly to silence dissent and deployed troops to quell protests in the weeks after the coup.

The junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has tried to sell a positive story and has pointed to modest improvements in the economy and consumer confidence since the takeover, AFP reported.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy avoided recession in the second quarter of the year but the tentative recovery is some way from matching the government spin.

Prayuth, 60, was a key figure in the 2006 coup that ousted Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin has lived in self-exile since 2008 to avoid serving a jail sentence for corruption charges which he denies.

He has said he wants to free Thailand from a vicious cycle of political instability but critics say his rhetoric, including nostalgia-tinged references to an agrarian utopia and a "return to morality in Thailand", is outmoded and threaten to drag Thailand back by decades, AFP reported.

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