Bangkok - Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej swore in the cabinet of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat Thursday amid mounting criticism they are not up to the challenges facing the country. Somchai, who is also serving as defence minister as had former prime minister Samak Sundaravej who resigned earlier this month, said the first cabinet meeting will be held Friday and added the policies of his government will be compatible with those during the Samak administration.
Somchai, 61, was appointed September 18 after Samak lost his post on September 9 when the Constitutional Court found him guilty of illegal moonlighting by hosting television cooking shows. Sitting prime ministers are not allowed to earn income from a second job.
Earlier Somchai had said he was aware some people were not happy about his cabinet, but stated they will work hard and not worry about the criticism.
The appointment of former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh as one of five deputy prime ministers was hoped to boost the country's support for the new cabinet. however he was not greeted with enthusiasm.
Chavalit, 76, was prime minister during the financial meltdown in 1997 and was widely believed to be out of touch with the situation at the time.
This is his third time as deputy prime minister and he has been handed the tasks of addressing a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia, the simmering unrest in the Muslim-dominated south of Thailand, and appeasing the anti-government protest group People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has occupied the grounds around Government House since August 26.
Finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvech is seen by many as a poor choice because of his past run-ins with the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
To ease those fears Suchart on Wednesday said he would give BoT a free hand to implement monetary policy, but with Thailand facing a tough challenge dealing with the fallout of the financial crisis in the US the choice has worried many.
Somchai's independence is being questioned as well due as the brother-in-law of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely believed to be pulling the strings of the new government.
In mid-2006 PAD organized months of protests against Thaksin, who was eventually ousted in a bloodless military coup in September 2006.
The PAD and coup leaders charged Thaksin with massive corruption, dividing the nation and undermining democracy and the monarchy. He is wanted in Thailand to face corruption charges but currently lives in exile in London.
The PAD said Samak, a political ally of Thaksin who openly campaigned as a proxy for him, was just a puppet prime minister.
They started protests in May calling for Samak's resignation after the cabinet approved a motion to amend the 2007 constitution.
Protest leaders charged the amendments were aimed at clearing Thaksin of corruption charges and paving the way for his return to power.
Now with Samak out of office PAD continues their protests and calls for the constitution not to be amended.
Thaksin, a former policeman turned billionaire businessman, was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, winning a huge following among Thailand's rural poor.
But the populist politician drew the opposition of the political elite when his growing power led to perceived abuses for personal gain.
