BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister has unveiled his new cabinet after getting the nod of approval from the country's revered monarch.
But critics say the makeup of the new cabinet being sworn in Monday casts doubt on the government's ability to unite the divided country.
Legislators voted in Abhisit Vejjajiva as prime minister on Dec. 15 after months of political protests that culminated in the occupation of Bangkok's airports.
He is Thailand's third leader in four months and also the first opponent of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to lead a civilian government in seven years.
His selection raised hopes that he would stop the revolving door of prime ministers, many of whom were forced from office by the months of demonstrations aimed at ridding the government of Thaksin's allies.
But the 35-member cabinet includes picks that critics say will make it harder to unite the deeply divided country, which is largely split between the middle class that is Abhisit's base and the rural poor who back Thaksin.
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup but was at the centre of a country's political crisis, which was led by protesters determined to rid Thai government of his political allies. Thaksin fled into exile to avoid corruption charges.
The selection that drew the most criticism was Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, 64, a career diplomat who was a prominent supporter of the protesters who occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and then blockaded Bangkok's two airports in late November.
Kasit appeared several times as a guest speaker at the protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy movement and hailed the Nov 29- Dec. 3 airport blockade as a "new innovation for public protests."
Still, Kasit comes with solid professional credentials: He is a Georgetown University graduate and former ambassador to the U.S., Japan, Germany, Indonesia and the former Soviet Union.
But pundits and critics say Abhisit's selection of Kasit as foreign minister is unlikely to heal the political rifts between Thaksin's supporters and opponents that have divided the country.
Even Abhisit acknowledged he is not entirely satisfied with the cabinet, saying Friday there were "political limitations" to his choices.
He leads a coalition government with a slim majority in Parliament that was patched together with legislators who defected from the People's Power party after a court dissolved it over corruption charges. The PPP, which had been the ruling party, was packed with Thaksin allies.
