After the king’s endorsement, Thailand has a new Cabinet but with some familiar faces

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand on Wednesday welcomed a new Cabinet after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved the appointment of 35 members to serve under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Paetongtarn took office on Aug. 16, after her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin was forced out of office by a court ruling that he had violated an ethics law by appointing a Cabinet member who had served time in prison in connection with a bribery case. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 but remains politically influential.

Paetongtarn is leader of the Pheu Thai Party, which took power after last year’s general election. It formed a government after members of the conservative Senate refused to endorse the prime minister nominated by the progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the poll.

The new Cabinet is substantially the same as Srettha’s, with five of the deputy prime ministers retaining their jobs. Also keeping their jobs are Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, who are both also deputy prime ministers, as well as Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa.

The new Cabinet’s royal endorsement, published in the government gazette, followed weeks of speculation over its composition after the pro-military Palang Pracharath Party was removed from the ruling coalition that Srettha had formed. The party and its leader, retired General Prawit Wongsuwan, were widely believed to be behind the ethics case brought before the Constitutional Court that cost Srettha his job before he completed a full year in office.

Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party invited its long-time rival, the Democrat Party, to join the governing coalition,