Retired General appointed Prime Minister

[Guest wowpow]

Bangkok Post

Breaking News

 

THAILAND GETS 24TH PRIME MINISTER

(dpa) - General Surayud Chulanont, a respected retired army officer who has served as a privy councillor, was appointed Thailand's new Prime Minister Sunday.

 

King Bhumibol Adulyadej approved his nomination making it official, the government said.

 

Surayud is Thailand's 24th prime minister since the kingdom became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. But perhaps more important he is the first since 1992 who did not win the position in an election.

 

Still, he is widely respected by civilian leaders and within the military as honest and not corrupt.

 

Surayud's appointment comes 13 days after the September 19 coup d'etat that toppled Prime Minister Thakson Shinawater after five-and-a-half years in power.

 

General Winai Phattiyakul, secretary general of what is now called the Council for National Security (CNS), the third name for military officers who led the bloodless coup, promised the CNS will step aside and let civilians run the country.

 

But the CNS under article 14 of the new interim charter is allowed to fire the prime minister without resorting to violence, and will continue to be responsible for considering urgent matters.

 

The military council said a new general election will be held in late 2007, but that it will only come when a new constitution is in place.

 

Under the interim 39-article charter a national assembly representing all social sectors will select a constitution-drafting assembly to write a new constitution, the government said. The draft will be put up for public hearing within 45 days after it is completed.

 

The interim constitution also provides CNS with an amnesty for having staged the coup d'etat, saying that the military leaders will not be held legally accountable for their past actions in toppling the Thaksin administration.

[Gaybutton]

So far, the coup leaders have fulfilled their promises. They said there would be a new prime minister within two weeks, and now there is one, apparently a gentleman readily acceptable to both the military and the public.

 

Now the next important issue will be whether they keep their second main promise to step aside and let the civilians run the government.

 

It will also be very interesting once we know what changes have been made in the new constitution.

[Guest wowpow]

This man seems to be very well thought of. My first reaction was that it was a mistake to appoint a General even if he is retired. It does not send out the right signal to the world who are looking closely. A 100% civilian would have been preferable.