An intense power struggle has broken out among the top ranks of Thailand's military over who should succeed the nation's junta leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, when he retires at the end of this month.
The new army chief will lead the junta as the nation heads into general elections on Dec. 23, which are supposed to restore democracy after the ouster of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Whoever fills the job will have an enormous impact on whether the kingdom sticks to its rocky road back toward democracy or risks suffering through another coup in the future, analysts say.
Senior Thai army officials are routinely pushed into retirement once they turn 60, as Sonthi did last year.
Sonthi's acceptance of retirement is seen by many analysts as a prelude to his launching a political career that could lead to him seeking the prime minister's job himself.
Normally the next most senior commander would become army chief, and the decision would be confirmed by mid-August, before the annual military reshuffle is formally announced on Oct. 1.
But there's nothing routine about this decision, in which the military, the army-backed government and the palace are locked in an intense closed-door debate over which of three top generals should succeed Sonthi.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, as well as the top royal adviser, General Prem Tinsulanonda, are both former army chiefs themselves. No civilian leader has a say in the decision.
The debate has been so fierce that the stock market was last month rattled by rumors of a new coup, and the defense minister had to publicly deny any rift among the top brass.
Theoretically, the next man in line for the job is General Saprang Kalananamitra, 59, an outspoken critic of Thaksin and a military hardliner who had publicly warned that he would stage another coup if a new political crisis breaks out after the elections.
"If General Sonthi and General Prem insist on Saprang, it means they insist on a hardline to keep Thaksin out. He's a very clear choice for the more right-wing approach," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University.
Sonthi's personal choice appears to be his protege and confidante, General Montree Sungkasap, 58, the army chief of staff.
The criticism against him is that he had no direct role in the coup against Thaksin and he is not a current member of the junta.
The compromise candidate could be General Anupong Paojinda, 57, who is currently assistant army chief.
He was a key player in the coup, mobilizing forces during the takeover.
‘THEY KILLED HOPE’: Four presidential candidates were killed in the 1980s and 1990s, and Miguel Uribe’s mother died during a police raid to free her from Pablo Escobar Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot at a campaign rally, his family said on Monday, as the attack rekindled fears of a return to the nation’s violent past. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former Colombian president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital, Bogota, by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. Despite signs of progress in the past few weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had a new brain hemorrhage. “To break up a family is the most horrific act of violence that
HISTORIC: After the arrest of Kim Keon-hee on financial and political funding charges, the country has for the first time a former president and former first lady behind bars South Korean prosecutors yesterday raided the headquarters of the former party of jailed former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to gather evidence in an election meddling case against his wife, a day after she was arrested on corruption and other charges. Former first lady Kim Keon-hee was arrested late on Tuesday on a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said. Her arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant against the 52-year-old. The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, after prosecutors submitted an 848-page opinion laying out
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
STAGNATION: Once a bastion of leftist politics, the Aymara stronghold of El Alto is showing signs of shifting right ahead of the presidential election A giant cruise ship dominates the skyline in the city of El Alto in landlocked Bolivia, a symbol of the transformation of an indigenous bastion keenly fought over in tomorrow’s presidential election. The “Titanic,” as the tallest building in the city is known, serves as the latest in a collection of uber-flamboyant neo-Andean “cholets” — a mix of chalet and “chola” or Indigenous woman — built by Bolivia’s Aymara bourgeoisie over the past two decades. Victor Choque Flores, a self-made 46-year-old businessman, forked out millions of US dollars for his “ship in a sea of bricks,” as he calls his futuristic 12-story
RSS