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Southeast Asia

Thai coup leaders to yield power to prime minister

2006-09-26

On to the inevitable slowdown in transferring power back to those wussie civilians ...

BANGKOK - Thailands coup leaders will yield power to a civilian prime minister once an interim constitution is in place later this week, General Winai Phattiyakul said on Monday. We are not the prime ministers boss and the prime minister is not our boss, said Winai, a senior member of the military council that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last Tuesday. After the constitution is announced at the end of this week, the CDR will then transfer to be National Security Council, he said.

After the coup, the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), as the generals call themselves, promised a civilian prime minister within two weeks and to step back once he was in place.

However, Winai said the National Security Council would work in parallel with the civilian administration while a legislative council of an initial 2,000 people picked by the army drew up a new constitution. The legislative council would then trim itself to about 200 people, he said. We will assist the next government in looking after the country, to sustain the economic and social stability.

Winai said it would take about six months to complete the constitution, which would be subject to final approval by the military. It would then be put to a referendum before elections were held, a process, which might take about eight months from now, he said. The generals would return to barracks only after the election, he said.

Posted by:Steve White

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