Pheu Thai Govt Would Work With Military, Says Plodprasop

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Pheu Thai govt would work with military, says Plodprasop

By The Nation

The Pheu Thai Party, if elected to lead the next government, would have no problem working with the Armed Forces, deputy party leader Plodprasop Suraswadi said yesterday.

"The armed forces are part of the bureaucracy and Pheu Thai is part of the political sector, hence the two will have to understand each other, work together and co-exist," he said.

Plodprasop dismissed concern about incompatibility between his party and the Armed Forces.

A Pheu Thai-led government would be obliged to work along with the Armed Forces in ensuring the national security and safeguarding the monarchy, he said.

He said his party had no linkage to the anti-monarchy movement.

On a personal note, he said he had known Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha since Plodprasop was a 37-year-old civil servant working as deputy director-general of the Fisheries Department.

Prayuth stepped into the campaign fray on Tuesday by urging voters to rally behind the monarchy and elect "good people" to administer the country. Many saw Prayuth's speech as a veiled criticism of Pheu Thai.

Barred Thai Rak Thai executive Chaturon Chaisang said the Army chief had no justification for biased remarks seen as favouring one party over another during the campaign.

Chaturon said the anti-monarchy movement was a fabricated story and he deemed it inappropriate for references to the monarchy in the lead-up to the vote.

He said that in his opinion, none of the Army chiefs since the 2006 coup were politically neutral.

Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) spokesman Maj-General Dithaporn Sasamit said the Army chief would not talk to the press for two weeks before the July 3 vote for fear his remarks would be misinterpreted.

Dithaporn said the Armed Forces wanted to reaffirm their loyalty to the monarchy and Isoc was duty-bound to monitor and alert police and law-enforcement agencies to take action against activities deemed offensive.

-- The Nation 2011-06-17