Who will have the last laugh - Abhisit or Suthep?

The suspense behind the naming of the new police chief is fast approaching a climax.

Two key players in the story line are Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban.

The outcome of the Abhisit-Suthep duel will provide conclusive proof whether Thailand is under one prime minister or co-prime ministers.

The suspense began like an innocuous story.

Abhisit dispatched Suthep to oversee the police service. The underlying mission was to wean police off the legacy of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

In the past six months, Suthep did manage to revamp several key positions but not in sufficient numbers to make a change.

Then an opportunity suddenly comes up as the police service is gearing for an unprecedented restructuring. More than 100,000 positions from top to bottom echelons are slated for reassignments.

Since the police appointments have political and professional ramifications, the police restructuring has become the spoils of war.

Outgoing national police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan wants to ensure that his ally-turned-archrival General Patheep Tanprasert would not be picked as his successor.

To achieve this, Patcharawat has worked overtime to sway his political overseer Suthep. He reportedly offers to set aside quotas for officers endorsed by politicians. Asking in return, he pushes for General Jumpol Manmai to succeed him.

Suthep, in turn, sees the golden opportunity to reshape the police service. He has been working closely with the Bhum Jai Thai Party’s Newin Chidchob faction for the police line-up.

Abhisit’s secretary general Nipon Prompan is the go-between to convey the messages between the prime minister and Suthep.

When Suthep was routinely pushing for the Cabinet approval on the list of police reshuffle involving 152 generals, Abhisit became aware of foul play.

The reshuffle list for top echelons was a precursor to the sweeping reassignment. Abhisit realised if Suthep and the Newin faction had a complete say in the matter, then the police service would become more politicised and not less.

He promptly intervened to send the list back for a review. He specifically blocked Patcharawat from having any further involvement in the police rotations.

Last Thursday, he walked with confidence into the meeting to nominate General Patheep Tanprasert as the new police chief. Less than two hours later, he stormed out of the meeting after his humiliating defeat.

There was no other explanation for the act of defiance against the prime minister unless he was betrayed by the people with his complete trust.

Since the botched nomination, the prime minister has been acting very cordial towards Suthep and Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul.

He made it clear that he is not ready to discuss the nomination process with neither Suthep nor Chaovarat, although he remains in close contacts with the two.

It has been widely speculated that Suthep is the man who pulled the rug from under Abhisit.

In a spate of three days, Suthep twice offered to mediate and resolve the nomination. Abhisit has so far turned deaf on his offers.

The pro-Abhisit camp has launched a full publicity campaign to set the stage for renominating Patheep.

The long-forgotten case on Patcharawat’s involvement in a bidding foul play two years ago suddenly became active again.

In a move seen as poetic justice, Abhisit instructed Suthep to form a disciplinary panel to check into Patcharawat’s alleged misconduct.

If Abhisit has had lost face from a challenge to his leadership, then Suthep will suffer bruised ego from having to launch the disciplinary proceedings against his henchman.

Just wait and see who will have the last laugh between now and the next few weeks when Abhisit is expected to advance forward the nomination process.