DEPUTY Prime Minister-cum-Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said this morning (June 30) that a coup d’etat is not on the minds of military commanders after some leaders of the national unity rally at Victory Monument on Saturday talked about a coup and encouraged it, Naewna newspaper said.
The four armed forces commanders confirmed that they are not thinking about mounting a coup because the country is facing a crisis and they want to help tackle and resolve it, he added.
He also mocked the rally’s core leaders pointing out that many of them still have cases in court and should not use an old method to bring out political change.
This has been done before and caused the country a decade of damage and if they insist on pushing it through they will land in more legal trouble, he said.
Reporters asked about Mr. Sonthi Limthongkul, former leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, who returned to give a speech at this rally and boasted that he pushed out Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s father, Pheu Thai’s de facto leader Thaksin Shinawatra, Phumtham replied that that was a different matter, and a different process, thus cannot be used as a reference.
“Hoping for a change to solve the problems in various cases cannot be done because the process is already underway,” he said.
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Top and Front Page: Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. Photos: Thai Rath
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