Thailand's PM: 'I call the shots'
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
THAILAND'S army-installed premier vowed yesterday he would "call the shots" so long as he remained in office after he publicly disagreed with the junta chief's hopes to extend emergency rule.
"I can make decisions on my own judgement. I'm not going to follow any pressures," Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said on a visit to Tokyo.
"It's maybe different on various issues. Just like my foreign minister will have a different opinion, my deputy prime minister will have a different opinion," he said, pointing to his advisers at a press conference.
"But I'm the one who calls the shots. That I can say. If not, I'm not going to be in this position," Surayud said.
Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led September's coup that ousted elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and installed Surayud, last week called for emergency rule in Bangkok to crack down on swelling anti-junta protests.
But Surayud, a retired general sometimes described as the more gentle face of the coup leaders, rejected extending emergency rule and pledged to hold elections in December
"You may think this interim government is a military government. That is not true," Surayud said.
"I was appointed as the prime minister and I select all my ministers by myself. Nobody else got involved," he said. "I will make my own decisions."
The junta deposed Thaksin, a populist self-made tycoon, citing allegations of corruption. The junta has refused to rule out the possibility of more coups in the future.
Surayud also said the investigation into charges against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be wrapped up by the end of April.
Thaksin, who has been living in exile since a coup last year, has been accused by coup leaders of corruption during his five years in office.
Surayud said that while he was not directly involved in the investigation himself, he believed the probe was ending.
Police chief Sereepisut Taemeeyaves said last month that investigators had recommended Thaksin be charged with three counts of lese majeste, which could put him in jail for 45 years, but Surayud said investigators were looking into charges linked to his first election as prime minister, among others.
Criminal tax evasion charges were brought against Thaksin's wife and his brother last week.
Surayud also said that Thaksin was free to come back to Thailand but that his return might prove difficult.
Surayud is on a four-day visit to Japan. Yesterday he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and signed an economic partnership agreement.Agencies
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"I can make decisions on my own judgement. I'm not going to follow any pressures," Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said on a visit to Tokyo.
"It's maybe different on various issues. Just like my foreign minister will have a different opinion, my deputy prime minister will have a different opinion," he said, pointing to his advisers at a press conference.
"But I'm the one who calls the shots. That I can say. If not, I'm not going to be in this position," Surayud said.
Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led September's coup that ousted elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and installed Surayud, last week called for emergency rule in Bangkok to crack down on swelling anti-junta protests.
But Surayud, a retired general sometimes described as the more gentle face of the coup leaders, rejected extending emergency rule and pledged to hold elections in December
"You may think this interim government is a military government. That is not true," Surayud said.
"I was appointed as the prime minister and I select all my ministers by myself. Nobody else got involved," he said. "I will make my own decisions."
The junta deposed Thaksin, a populist self-made tycoon, citing allegations of corruption. The junta has refused to rule out the possibility of more coups in the future.
Surayud also said the investigation into charges against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be wrapped up by the end of April.
Thaksin, who has been living in exile since a coup last year, has been accused by coup leaders of corruption during his five years in office.
Surayud said that while he was not directly involved in the investigation himself, he believed the probe was ending.
Police chief Sereepisut Taemeeyaves said last month that investigators had recommended Thaksin be charged with three counts of lese majeste, which could put him in jail for 45 years, but Surayud said investigators were looking into charges linked to his first election as prime minister, among others.
Criminal tax evasion charges were brought against Thaksin's wife and his brother last week.
Surayud also said that Thaksin was free to come back to Thailand but that his return might prove difficult.
Surayud is on a four-day visit to Japan. Yesterday he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and signed an economic partnership agreement.Agencies
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