Thailand's military rulers said Tuesday they wrote a temporary
constitution appointing themselves advisers to any interim
government, and hinted they might replace ousted premier Thaksin
Shinawatra with an ex-military man.
The comments by coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin gave
the first indication that military rulers who seized power a week
ago do not plan to withdraw entirely from the political process a
prospect that critics condemned as another blow to democracy.
In an apparent public relations gaffe, the ruling military
council Tuesday named dozens of prominent civilians to serve as its
advisors some of whom said they had not been approached to serve in
the positions.
Asked why some appointees had not been contacted, ruling
military spokesman Lieutenant General Palangoon Klaharn said, "It
is not necessary. Some matters are urgent."
Sonthi earlier told reporters the draft constitution will be
reviewed by academics and submitted to King Bhumibol Adulyadej for
a royal endorsement by Sunday, at which point a new leader can be
named.
The ruling military council hopes to install a new civilian
prime minister "as soon as possible," but is still narrowing down
its candidates for the job, Sonthi said. He did not rule out a
former soldier for the job.
"When you say 'civilian prime minister,' you will see that
soldiers after they retire can be called civilians," Sonthi said in
a response to a question during a nationally televized press
conference.
His comment was generally seen as suggesting that former army
commander Surayud Chulanont, respected for his professionalism and
a member of the king's inner circle of advisers, remained a leading
candidate for the job.
But newspapers, citing unnamed informed sources, having
suggested various possibilities virtually everyday, with the
favorites including a high-court judge, Supreme Administrative
Court President Ackaratorn Chularat; Supachai Panitchpadki, a
former head of the World Trade Organization and a current UN
official; and Pridiyathorn Devakula, chief of Thailand's central
bank.
All are regarded as corruption-free and either politically
neutral or on record as having opposed Thaksin's government.
Sonthi said the military council formally called the Council for
Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy will stay on in an
advisory role after it hands over power to a civilian
government.
Under the temporary constitution the ruling council will be
"transformed" into the National Security Council, to advise the
government on security matters, Sonthi said.
Also on Tuesday, the Board of Directors of Mass Communication of
Thailand Public Company Limited (MCOT Plc), Thailand's leading
broadcast media, announced their resignation en masse to take
responsibility for the Sept. 19 incident.
MCOT President Mingkwan Sangsuwan and the board of the
privatized but still state-owned media organization decided to
leave and the resignation will take effect Wednesday, the Thai News
Agency (TNA) said.
In a statement read by MCOT board chairman Rawat Chamchalerm,
all 11 members of the board of directors agreed unanimously to
resign together to "show responsibility for the September 19
incident."
According to the TNA, MCOT's Modernine television (TV 9) was the
only station that aired the Sept. 19 speech by then Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra from New York where he was attending the United
Nations General Assembly.
In the statement relayed from New York, former premier Thaksin
attempted to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok and tried to
dismiss Army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, said the
TNA.
Thaksin said he was ordering the transfer of the nation's army
chief to work in the prime minister's office, but the speech was
abruptly interrupted during transmission, said the report.
The military Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional
Monarchy (CDRM) led by Sonthi and other armed forces commanders
later staged a bloodless coup d'etat to overthrow the caretaker
government then under the control of Thaksin, the TNA said.
A state enterprise "privatized" two years ago, MCOT remained
about 65 percent owned by the former Thaksin government through the
Ministry of Finance and sway effectively includes TV 9, 62 radio
stations and the TNA.
(China Daily Xinhua News Agency, September 27,
2006)
