He said that preparing the first draft took a lot of time because policies from different perspectives had to be integrated into one core guideline, which also has to be accommodated by the budget.

A political source said that the government’s annoucement to the Parliament has reportedly been scheduled on Jul 24-25. All coaltion parties have been informed to get ministers under their quota to get ready for possible questioning by the opposition.

The new policies include a proposed increase in minimum daily wage to Bt425 and the much-debated medical marijuana initiative, he said, adding that existing policies such as government welfare cards will remain unchanged.

Sontirat went on to say that the resignation of MPs who have been given Cabinet portfolios was also discussed, though no decision has been made on what will be done if nobody volunteers to give up either the MP seat or Cabinet job as required by the new Constitution.

He said the appointment of political appointees apart from Cabinet members will only be discussed once the Cabinet is royally endorsed.

Sontirat added that members of the Phalang Pracharat Party have reconciled over their differences and those seeking his resignation have now backed off.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on Tuesday found Natee Ratchakitprakarn, who became a Bhumjaithai party-list MP after the March 24 election, guilty of concealing assets and debts worth about Bt95 million.

The case came to light after Natee filed her financial report with the NACC as required after the House of Representatives was dissolved in December 2013. The NACC took the case to court after discovering that she had failed to include the property and land worth about Bt2 million that she owns in Phatthalung province, as well as debts owed by her and her husband totalling Bt93 million.

The court on Tuesday halved the original penalty of two months in jail and a Bt8,000 fine, and suspended the term for a year because Natee has no police history.

The court has also divested the politician of her electoral rights for five years from December 9, 2013 and due to this, she also loses her party-list MP seat.

Natee appeared to be stressed and had to be supported by two assistants when leaving the courtroom. She also refused to speak to reporters.

Her lawyer, Norawit Lalaeng, said his client had attended the hearing even though she was unwell, adding that he will ask Natee later if she wants to appeal the verdict.

“She wants to thank the media and the court for showing mercy,” he said.

Somkid Lertpaitoon, a law expert and former rector of Thammasat University (TU), said that although the incoming administration would be weak because it consisted of many coalition partners and enjoyed only a slim majority in the House of Representatives, it was unlikely to collapse within a few months as had been speculated.

“I believe the [incoming] government of General Prayut [Chan-o-cha] will survive for a considerable period, and not too short at that. A government with a slim majority tends to be extremely careful when overcoming any obstacles,” Somkid pointed out.

“They will try their best in every possible way to survive,” the academic said at TU’s Tha Phrachan campus in Bangkok.

“My prediction is that the next election will certainly not happen in three to five months. I expect the many sides involved will keep the government afloat,” he added.

Wissanu was commenting on a meeting with chief coalition whip Wirat Rattanset who consulted him Monday about the annulment of orders issued by the NCPO following the 2014 coup.

Wissanu said Wirat informed him that several motions were about to be put on the House agenda in relation to the request for the cancellation of coup orders.

The deputy prime minister said he explained to Wirat that the government would be ready to provide explanations to the House regarding the coup orders.

He informed Wirat that the NCPO chief would on Tuesday issue a final order to terminate some 100 coup orders that were no longer needed, such as those pertaining to the media and the martial court.

He said some orders did not have to be cancelled as they are time-tied and will automatically lapse on expiry.

After the last order is issued to terminate the coup orders, only a few will remain, Wissanu said.

He added that the government agencies concerned felt these remaining orders needed to be kept in place because they were issued to improve outdated laws. Wissanu said the House would simply have to consider whether to change their status from coup order to acts or whether to terminate them.

Wirat also asked Wissanu about the coup orders that saw many local administration officials suspended from duty.

Wisssanu said he explained to Wirat that some of the suspended officials have not been reinstated to their posts because they are still facing probes by either the National Anti-Corruption Commission or the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission.

Once cleared of corruption charges, the prime minister can issue orders to reintegrate them, Wisssanu added.

In a Facebook post on Monday, he said he has decided to step down as the party’s deputy leader and member of the executive board because his legal battle with an unnamed high-ranking police officer has started escalating.

“I have just learned that this legal battle is now being treated as a conflict between Thai Civilised Party and the Royal Thai Police,” said Natchapol, who was a social-media personality before he entered politics.

The politician said he decided to give up his posts because he did not want the party to suffer any adverse impacts from the legal dispute.

“I’m now fighting the battle as an ordinary citizen and do not want to be accused of using my position in the political party to bully anybody,” he said, adding that he will hand his formal resignation at the party’s office soon.

The Thai Civilised Party, which campaigned on an anti-junta platform for election but now wants to bring back “whipping for corruption cases”, joined the 18-party coalition after it was allocated one MP seat under the party-list electoral system.

The seat is held by party leader Mongkolkit Suksintharanon.

The anti-junta politician only had 45 days to prepare his explanation, with Monday being the deadline, as the court had rejected his request for an extension last month.

A court official pored over the documents for more than an hour on Monday, before they are forwarded to the judges, who will see if further clarifications, documents or witnesses are required. If no further clarifications are required, then the judges will vote on whether Thanathorn had breached the Constitution.

The politician is accused of violating the Constitution by holding shares in the media firm, V-luck, while running for an MP post.

However, Thanathorn has said all along that he transferred the shares to his mother weeks before the MP election was open for applications. Yet, official documents show that Thanathorn’s mother only became a legitimate shareholder of V-Luck Company after her son had already become an MP candidate.

The politician can be disqualified as MP if the court finds him guilty. He is currently suspended from the House of Representatives by court order.

General Prawit said he had no concerns about House Speaker Chuan Leekpai forwarding a petition from MPs of the opposition Pheu Thai Party to the Constitutional Court for a ruling.

The opposition MPs allege that General Prayut is unqualified to be prime minister in the wake of the March election because he should be considered a state official and this is prohibited by the Constitution from holding any Cabinet position.

“I’m not worried,” Prawit said. “[Prayut] can still perform his duties. I don’t think this issue will affect confidence in the government.”

He said the Ombudsman’s Office had studied the matter and found nothing wrong with Prayut’s qualifications.

Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said on Monday that Chuan, who is also Parliament president, simply complied with the Constitution in forwarding the petition to the court.

“We will have to wait for a judgment from the Constitutional Court,” he said. “The process is in line with the provisions of the Constitution.”

MP Ladawan Wongsriwong, spokesperson for the opposition Pheu Thai Party, on Monday called on Prayut to voluntarily stop performing his duties while the petition was under court consideration.

She said Prayut should be considered a state official and thus unqualified to contest the election as a PM candidate in the first place.

Prayut and his entourage including Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda, Transport Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith, Deputy Finance Minister Chaicharn Changmongkhol, and Disthat Hotrakit, an advisor to the prime minister, left on a military plane from the Don Mueang military airport at 7.30am bound for the Phuket International Airport.

The trip is Prayut’s first official visit to Phuket after being appointed by royal command the prime minister for the new government, pending the formation of his new Cabinet.

Prayut refused to answer reporters’ questions about the complaint made by Pheu Thai MPs of his alleged disqualifications as candidate for prime minister. The Pheu Thai MPs asked the Parliament’s president to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court as to whether Prayut should be disqualified as the prime minister because he is also the leader of the National Council for Peace and Order. The MPs reasoned that the NCPO is a government agency so Prayut should be regarded as a state official and thus prohibited from running in an election.

While in Phuket, Prayut is scheduled to chair the opening ceremony of a new road tunnel in front of a school in Tambon Rawai in Muang district at 10am. The tunnel is aimed at solving congestion at this traffic black spot and facilitating transport in line with the master plan to develop Phuket’s highways.

At 11am, Prayut is scheduled to pay respect to the Prince Chumphon statue at the Navy Area 3 command in Tambon Wichit in Muang district.

At 1pm, the prime minister will visit the Phuket deep seaport at the Ao Makham bay in Muang district and an exhibition of tools and equipment for disaster handling as part of the Integrated Disaster Management Exercise 2019. The exercise is for the six Andaman coastal provinces of Krabi, Trang, Phang Nga, Phuket, Ranong and Satun to prepare them for coping with any future tsunamis.

The prime minister will be briefed on the progress of the Phuket deep seaport development project before flying back to Bangkok later today.

Chatuporn was speaking during the weekly get-together activity of members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) at the Peace and Coffee and Library coffee shop on the fifth floor of Imperial Lat Phrao shopping mall.

“We should let the government work for three or six months. It will not go further than that,” Jatuporn, chairman of the UDD, said, adding that the time was not right for the UDD to fight with the government as such a move would prompt the coalition partners to unite.

“If we step in sooner, they will make peace among themselves sooner,” Jatuporn said.

He said Thais are not excited about who would hold which positions in the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

“This is because no one will be better than his/her peers in the Cabinet. The public will only see whose image will be uglier,” he added,

He said the government would be short-lived because of the accumulated dissatisfaction among leading members of coalition partners who failed to win Cabinet seats.

“Those who failed to get Cabinet seats will grow increasingly dissatisfied while those who won the seats do not think the government will last long and will rush to rob the country. We will let them do it and catch them later. This is why I am telling you to be patient,” Jatuporn said.

But, he cautioned, after the Prayut government collapses, the 250 senators, who were appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order, would elect Prayut as the prime minister again because the current charter empowers the senators to take part in the election of PM for the first five years.

As a result, Jatuporn said, several organisations have already started campaigns for the charter to be amended.

He added that political parties need to seek public support for charter amendments because such amendments would be hard to make without public sentiment in support of changes to the master law.

Sudarat was speaking to reporters after visiting farmers at Wat Koh Kaew Weruwan in Tambon Dong Noi of Chachoengsao’s Ratchasan district.

She said she thought Sompong, a Pheu Thai MP for Chiang Mai and deputy prime minister who has also held several ministerial posts, is suitable to lead the party.

Party leader Wirode Pao-in tendered his resignation on Wednesday and secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai also announced his intention to step down, requiring the entire party’s executive board to be elected.

Sudarat said she believes the Pheu Thai is still united and all members still share the goal of developing the party so that it serves as the people’s mouthpiece, adding that this was a particularly important task when the country did not have a House of Representatives to take care of the people for five years.

She added that the Pheu Thai would be ready to adjust so as to cope with the challenges of the distorted constitution, the distorted state mechanisms and unfair rules.

“The party will also seek to help the country cope with economic slump and trade war between China and the United States as well as technological disruption,” Sudarat said.

“The change of the new executive board and reform of the party will make the Pheu Thai a tool for serving the people better and a mouthpiece for the people to speak out about their hardships. We will also look into the corruption that has accumulated during the past five years.”

The Pheu Thai is viewed as a part owned by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawat, who has been living in exile.

Young Bangkok MP Anudit Nakornthap, who is a close aide to Pheu Thai’s former prime ministerial candidate Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, is expected to succeed Phumtham as the next secretary general.

Sompong, who is close to Thaksin, said last week that Anudit was best suited to become Pheu Thai’s next secretary general, although there were many potential candidates.