BANGKOK : Thailand's military chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin
said Wednesday he would hand power to an appointed prime minister
within two weeks, and that democracy would be restored in a
year.
At his first press briefing since seizing power from Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra late Tuesday, Sonthi also said the country's
revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej had nothing to do with the
coup.
"An interim constitution will be drafted within two weeks, and
during that time a new national assembly will be appointed, and a
new prime minister will be appointed," Sonthi told reporters.
"I will resign as interim prime minister within two weeks, and now
we are looking for the person who will become the new prime
minister," he said.
"The potential candidates are politically neutral, and love
democracy with the king as head of state," he said.
Sonthi said the government to be appointed by the military would be
tasked with drafting a new constitution that would provide the
framework for new general elections.
"By early next month, the interim constitution will be ready, which
will allow the start of writing a new, permanent constitution. That
process should take about one year," he said.
"The next general election will hopefully take place in October
next year," he added.
Sonthi denied that the king was behind the coup.
"Nobody was behind us. We decided on our own, and we took care of
it on our own. We decided within the last two days to stage a coup,
because the people have called for it and also because of the
mismanagement of the government," he said.
"The military has acted in line with the wishes of the people," he
said. - AFP /dt