The government will not appoint any more politicians to the current cabinet to ensure their loyalty after the coming polls, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said on Wednesday.
The prime minister would reshuffle the cabinet only if a minister resigns, Gen Prawit said.
He dismissed speculation the government might bring politicians into the present cabinet, because they were then likely to be in the next government with the prime minister.
Any new minister would be appointed for his recognised capability, not for other reasons, said Gen Prawit who is also the defence minister.
He confirmed the government would soon establish a new university ministry, but he said that might not require a new minister. A deputy education minister could supervise the new ministry.
Gen Prawit also dismissed speculation he would appoint a northeastern politician as deputy interior minister to supervise the elections.
According to Gen Prawit, people in the Northeast were satisfied with the government's efforts to free therm of informal debt and the demands of loan sharks. He would visit the northeastern province of Kalasin on Sept 20 to return title deeds freed from loan sharks to about 1,000 local people.
Police had handled informal debts and recovered title deeds for about 3,000 debtors in the region, and people in the Northeast had reacted positively to this. They had not expected to ever get their land back, he said.
On Wednesday, he also made an about-turn on his political future, saying it would depend on whether Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wanted to continue using him after this government.
Earlier, Gen Prawit had said he would quit politics after the government of the National Council for Peace and Order ends, because of his advanced age, 73 years, and health problems.
