Thailand’s junta leader could stay in charge of the country as head of a provisional government until elections are held sometime next year, a legal adviser said yesterday, outlining details of an interim constitution.
A member of the ruling council added that martial law, imposed two days before the army seized power on May 22, would remain in force for the foreseeable future.
The military, under Royal Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, said it acted to restore order after months of political turmoil as protesters tried to topple the government of former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Photo: EPA
Yingluck was forced to step down on May 7 after being found guilty of abuse of power by the Constitutional Court. The remainder of her Cabinet was ousted in the coup two weeks later.
The military tore up the old constitution. A provisional charter was endorsed by head of state King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Tuesday, allowing the appointment of a parliament, the National Legislative Assembly, which will nominate a new prime minister.
Asked at a news conference whether Prayuth would continue as leader of the country under the interim charter, Wissanu Krea-ngam, a legal adviser to the junta, said: “The constitution allows it, but whether he is appointed or not is down to the National Legislative Assembly.”
General Paiboon Koomchaya, in charge of legal affairs for the junta, suggested Prayuth could do the job perfectly.
“I don’t see he has any flaws in performing his duties. As of now, he is already performing the duties of a prime minister. For the past two months, he has been sitting at the head of the table at every meeting and the administration of the country has gone smoothly during these two months,” Paiboon said.
The upheaval is the latest chapter in almost a decade of conflict pitting Thailand’s royalist establishment and Bangkok’s middle class against Yingluck’s brother, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and his supporters among the poor.
Thaksin’s devoted following in the rural north and northeast has ensured that he or parties loyal to him have won every election since 2001. He was toppled in an earlier coup, in 2006.
The military will remain in charge of national security alongside the incoming provisional government and Paiboon said martial law, imposed on May 20, would remain in force.
“It is still necessary for the peace and safety of our country,” he said.
The interim constitution has provisions for a committee to draft a new, permanent constitution. It is unclear if that will be put to a referendum.
Another body, a national reform council, will have a broad remit to draw up political and economic reforms, including the reshaping of national and local government, education, energy policy and other matters.
The protesters who undermined Yingluck’s government during months of street rallies — and whose leadership is close to the royalist and military establishment — wanted the electoral system to be redrawn to eliminate the influence of Thaksin.
Prayuth has said a new general election could be held late next year.
Junta adviser Wissanu said the interim constitution would probably be in force for about a year, after which a new constitution would come in and elections would be held under its provisions.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not