Ministerial Candidate Lists Submitted To PM Paetongtarn Amid PPRP Split

Secretary General to the Prime Minister Prommin Lertsuridej confirmed that all coalition parties, including the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), have now submitted their lists of ministerial candidates to PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, completing another stage of the formation of the new cabinet.

• All ministerial candidates will now undergo a detailed vetting process, involving a number of government agencies such as the Royal Thai Police or the National Anti-Corruption Commission, to ensure that the new Prime Minister is not liable for accepting an ineligible candidate - which led to the downfall of her predecessor.
• Thansettakij reports that the breakaway PPRP faction led by Thamanat Prompow submitted its own list of candidates. Thamanat reportedly wants to return as Agriculture Minister, but if he is deemed unfit to hold public office, he would like his brother Akkara Prompow to take his place.
• The Bangkok Post reported that PPRP leader Prawit Wongsuwon submitted a different list of candidates, nominating his brother Phatcharavat Wongsuwan for the position of Natural Resource and Environment Minister and seeks to replace Thamanat with current Deputy Public Health Minister Santi Promphat.
• The decision whom to nominate to ministerial positions rests solely with the Prime Minister. This puts Paetongtarn and the PTP in a position to strategically leverage the rupture between PPRP factions and try to tilt the balance of power within the ruling coalition further in the PTP's favour.