Permanent secretary for public health Narong Sahametapat has slammed the order transferring him to an inactive post as an act of harassment.
Although the transfer order was signed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Dr Narong directed his ire at Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin, who he said interfered with civil servants' work.
"Whoever becomes the next permanent secretary must protect the honour and dignity of civil servants rather than kowtow to government orders," Dr Narong said.
He was speaking to a gathering of about 500 supporters who turned up Thursday in a show of moral support outside the Public Health Ministry, some of them wearing black. Among them were ministry officials, members of public health communities, doctors and nurses.
Dr Narong was moved to the Prime Minister's Office as a special adviser to Gen Prayut on research and national health development.
The transfer came after lengthy conflicts between the Public Health Ministry's Permanent Secretary Office (PSO), headed by Dr Narong, and the National Health Security Office (NHSO), over management of the universal coverage (UC) healthcare scheme, supervised by the NHSO.
Gen Prayut issued a prime ministerial order on March 5 to set up a committee to investigate allegations that Dr Narong's actions have caused conflict among health agencies and did not conform with government healthcare policies.
Dr Narong criticised Dr Rajata, saying that upon taking office on Sept 13 last year, the minister's prime concerns were the appointment of civil servants at the ministry.
Dr Narong said the minister asked him to promote a deputy director-general to a deputy permanent secretary, which he had rejected as impossible, yet the minister kept pushing the order.
He also complained the minister undermined his authority to appoint provincial health chiefs.
The permanent secretary for public health has the authority to appoint provincial public health chiefs, he said, but the minister and a team of his advisers asked to examine a list of nominated officials.
"This was an act of interference with the authority of civil servants. If this had happened in the past, the minister could have been impeached," Dr Narong said.
He commended Gen Prayut for making sacrifices for the country, but said he was concerned that someone who has never made a contribution will steal the show and bring down the prime minister.
Dr Narong said the gathering was to make Gen Prayut aware of problems at the ministry, not to oust the government.
After meeting his supporters, Dr Narong reported to the PM's Office.
Dr Rajata said on Thursday the government wanted the Public Health Ministry to commit to implementing government policy because time is running out.
Some officials at the ministry have failed to do so, the minister said, adding the ministry is plagued with a lack of unity.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that Dr Narong still held the permanent secretary's post, but could not issue any orders.
No one will be appointed to replace Dr Narong. Only an acting permanent secretary can be appointed, Mr Wissanu said.
Since last year, Dr Narong has criticised the NHSO for poor management of the UC budget, claiming a number of PSO state hospitals have been left in financial trouble.
Dr Narong proposed the NHSO should allow the PSO to manage the budget itself, but the NHSO disagreed, saying the PSO's proposal could create conflicts of interest.
The NHSO said the PSO plays the role of health service provider and should not be allowed to manage the money of health purchasers or patients, also suggesting it is vulnerable to meddling by politicians.
The PSO then issued a letter asking its officials not to cooperate with the NHSO's work, forcing Dr Rajata to set up two joint committees between the agencies to find solutions. Dr Narong and his deputies boycotted both panels.
Last month, Dr Rajata asked the agencies to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) derived from the panels.
However, the PSO rejected the MoU draft proposed by the NHSO and put forward its own draft, resulting in the postponement of the signing.
Gen Prayut was forced to intervene when the PSO issued an order for its hospitals to stop carrying out their role as registration units for the NHSO's UC members from April 30 this year.
