Bangkok Post
WASSANA NANUAM & NATTAYA CHETCHOTIROS
Council for National Security chairman Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin yesterday did not rule out the possibility he might take up the premiership after the general election.
Asked whether he would consider taking up the premiership, he said: ''I'm a Thai, and a patriot. If I can do anything to help strengthen the country, I will do it.''
If he was a patriot, he would have stayed in his barracks, or he could have resigned his commission and run against Thaksin in an election legally.
But the question, posed at the CNS press conference, seemed to upset Gen Sonthi. He later cancelled an appointment to play football with military-beat reporters yesterday evening.
Throwing temper tantrums over a legitimate question doesn't augur well for his leadership capabilities in a free society.
And why the fuck is the press fraternizing with the leader of a military dictatorship?
Gen Sonthi, also the army chief, will retire on Sept 30. Anti-coup activists are afraid he might extend his political power by becoming the next prime minister, said a CNS source.
Gen Sonthi said nothing that could be construed as a public commitment to taking up the premiership, to avoid repeating former prime minister Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon's mistake, the source said.
Gen Sonthi pointed out that the CNS had made progress in fulfilling the four reasons it cited for toppling the Thaksin Shinawatra government _ widespread corruption, unprecedented division of Thai people, interference in independent agencies, and disrespect to the monarchy.
Campaign for Popular Democracy secretary-general Suriyasai Katasila said Gen Sonthi's remarks could be seen as showing intent to extend his power, and they put the government and the CNS in a negative light.
He also warned that the old power cliques might use the remarks as an excuse to stir up a new political trouble. Gen Sonthi should assure the public that the CNS would return power to the people, he added.
Why would General Sonthi even consider becoming prime minister when he has shown himself to be totally incompetent as the head of a military junta?
Currently, he has carte blanche to do whatever he wants, and he has done nothing to demonstrate that he has any leadership or management capabilities. He hasn't even proven the reasons for the coup. What if in the future he had to deal with an elected parliament, would he do, just throw a temper tantrum and a coup every time he didn't get his way or what?
1 comment:
Sonthi is lying.
He's done it before, and he's good at it.
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