Demoted cabinet minister Chalerm Yubamrung issued a strong warning to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as he began his new job at the Labour Ministry yesterday.
Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung arrives at the Ministry of Labour on his first day in office yesterday. He was greeted by ministry officials. CHANAT KATANYU
Mr Chalerm warned the premier that the "ice cream gang" could cause her trouble. He was referring to politicians around her, but did not name anyone.
"There is a group of politicians at Government House, especially the ice cream gang, who will make her job as prime minister more difficult and lead her into trouble," Mr Chalerm said.
The term "ice cream gang" was first used by Pheu Thai Party members to describe politicians and aides of Abhisit Vejjajiva when he was the prime minister, before the Democrats lost the general election two years ago.
The labour minister said he had the right to air his opinion on the cabinet reshuffle, given his popularity in several polls because of his role in the crackdown on drugs when he was deputy premier.
A political leader needed a "tiger" to shadow him or her everywhere, he said. Any leader picking a "dog" to follow them faced disaster, Mr Chalerm added.
The outspoken politician has long been seen as a political guardian to the prime minister.
Mr Chalerm said he held no grudges against Ms Yingluck for her decision to remove him from his previous job as deputy prime minister in charge of security affairs.
"I admit that I failed to end the violence in the three southern border provinces. Although I was director of the Southern Command Centre, I had no authority to direct anybody," he added.
The centre was set up in January this year to come up with solutions to the southern violence, and it supervises the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC).
The maverick politician again attacked SBPAC secretary-general Thawee Sodsong. Mr Chalerm blames Pol Col Thawee for lobbying Ms Yingluck to remove him from his role in the South.
"This is politics," Mr Chalerm said.
The labour minister was absent from the cabinet meeting after the fourth reshuffle on Tuesday, citing the need for a medical check-up.
He will also skip the next meeting, to be held next Tuesday, as he says he will undergo eye surgery the day before.
"Do not interpret it [my absence] as protest," he said.
He vowed to turn around the Labour Ministry from a "no-grade" ministry to an "A+" ministry. He aims to turn all factories into drug-free workplaces and also prepare workers for Asean regional integration in 2015.
"The Labour Ministry has never been rated. Now that I'm here, I will make the Labour Ministry an A+ ministry," he told officials waiting to greet him as he arrived at the agency.
Mr Chalerm left for Hong Kong hours after visiting the ministry yesterday. He did not say if he would meet deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra there.
Other cabinet members and Pheu Thai MPs are also travelling to Hong Kong. A Pheu Thai source said Thaksin is in Hong Kong until this weekend, mainly to clear up doubts among his supporters who were moved to new cabinet positions or dropped from the cabinet.
Newly appointed Social Development and Human Security Minister Paveena Hongsakula will also be in Hong Kong, the source added.