Coup leaders finish constitution

A baby is held up in front of soldiers to pose for a picture yesterday in Bangkok. PHOTO: AP

Thailand's rulers said yesterday that they wrote a temporary constitution appointing themselves advisers to any interim government, and hinted that they might replace ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra with an ex-military man.

The comments by coup leader General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin 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.

Sondhi reporters the draft constitution will be reviewed by academics and submitted to the king 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, Sondhi said. He did not rule out a former soldier for the temporary role.

"When you say `civilian prime minister,' you will see that soldiers after they retire can be called civilians," Sondhi said in a response to a question during a nationally televised press conference.

Sondhi a coup that ousted Thaksin on Sept. 19 and said at the time that a civilian leader would be installed within two weeks -- or by Oct. 4.

But yesterday he 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 temporary constitution the ruling council will be "transformed" into the National Security Council, to advise the government on security matters, Sondhi said.

"We do not know what the internal situation will be in the future," Sondhi said. "As of today the situation is calm, orderly and peaceful, but we do not know what is going to happen in the future."

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the coup makers appeared to be backtracking on promises to quickly step aside.

"If they hold on to power, it will be the opposite of what was announced and we hope that it will not happen," he said.

Democracy Ji Ungpakorn, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University, said that any interim government not elected by the people was unacceptable -- whether the person is an ex-soldier or civilian.

"It doesn't really matter who the prime minister is," he said. "A military appointed government has no legitimacy."

The military council has said it wants a constitution with less "loopholes" that makes future leaders more accountable. Sondhi said yesterday that a draft interim constitution has been written and will be submitted for endorsement by Thailand's king by Sunday.

Sondhi the incoming prime minister must be someone "well accepted by society" who is honest and "able to create unity" in the country.

He said the new prime minister will have a free hand to choose ministers for a 35-member Cabinet.

One the leading candidates for the job is believed to be former army commander Surayud Chulanont, who is a member of the king's inner circle of advisers.

Others to be a high-court judge, Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat; Supachai Panitchpadki, a former head of the WTO and a current UN official; and Pridiyathorn Devakula, chief of Thailand's central bank.