The Cabinet gave the nod to Pol Maj-General Peeraphan Prempooti as permanent secretary of the Prime Minister's Office. It also approved Rongpol Charoenpan as the new Cabinet secretary-general, replacing Borwornsak Uwanno who stepped down last month.

Peeraphan had been an adviser to Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

PM's Office Minister Newin Chidchob is in charge of the Office of the Permanent Secretary and will be Peeraphan's boss. He has appointed Peeraphan to head the investigation into the iTV concession-fee conflict.

Rongpol rose through the ranks from deputy secretary-general of the Council of State to deputy permanent secretary of the PM's Office. He oversaw both the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne and the iTV legal dispute.

Senator Jon Ungpakorn yesterday questioned Peeraphan's appointment, suggesting the government was aiding iTV in its concession-fee dispute.

"It [the appointment] is obviously a process to pave the way for helping iTV's business," he said.

Thailand Development Research Institute academic Somkiat Tangkitwanich echoed Jon's concerns, saying the "public needs to monitor closely whether the government is doing anything to favour iTV".

Somkiat compared this to "after-sales service" for iTV's new owner, Singapore's Temasek.

Jon said the civic network would assess the iTV case next week.

Furthermore, possible legal hurdles to Rongpol and Peeraphan's appointments were raised by Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Ekachai Warunprapa, who said they may be invalid.

He said Article 215 of the Constitution stipulates that a caretaker government requires EC approval for such appointments. Article 215 also stated that while an outgoing cabinet must continue its duties until replaced, it cannot appoint, transfer or dismiss top bureaucrats without EC permission, he said.

Ekachai said he had not seen any government proposal to appoint the two officials. It was possible the proposals had gone directly to EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp, he said.

Election Commissioner Prinya Nakchudtree said he had not seen any appointment proposals, either.

Peeraphan declined to comment on his appointment yesterday because it has yet to be endorsed by His Majesty the King.

Meanwhile, a source said Thaksin trusted Rongpol to handle the Cabinet secretary-general's position. And Newin said Rongpol had legal knowledge, experience, seniority and the skills to work with state agencies.

Newin insisted both appointments were above board. Neither was politically motivated, he said.

Rongpol welcomed a return to legal issues and work with which he has experience.

"I will meet the prime minister to discuss policies with him,'' he said.

Rongpol defended the involvement of Peeraphan in the iTV dispute and said he would ensure fair and transparent handling of the issue.

In a related development, government deputy spokesman Danuporn Punnakanta said yesterday the Cabinet had assigned Newin new responsibilities including overseeing MCOT Plc.

He has also been placed in charge of checking draft Cabinet resolutions, a task former deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam handled.

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation