Thailand’s highest-ranking military officer piled pressure on the government yesterday to end political unrest in which two people were killed and hundreds injured last week.
Supreme Commander General Songkitti Jaggabatara, who oversees the army, navy and air force, said he had instructed the government to solve the country’s political crisis, ruling out any immediate military action.
“We have held consultations between the three armed forces. I have told the government to solve the problem,” he told reporters.
“As of now there is no coup, it’s not time for the military to come out,” said Songkitti, whose role is largely ceremonial.
Air Force Chief Marshal Ittaporn Subhawong, however, raised the specter of future military action if the government called for it.
“There must be martial law or a state of emergency declared before the military can come out legally,” Ittaporn said.
“The prime minister, who is also the defense minister, is a former judge ... so I assume that he will know what he should do,” he said.
On Tuesday police fired tear gas on demonstrators who had blockaded parliament to protest a government plan to amend the Constitution, a move they say is aimed at helping former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy claims the government is running the country on behalf of Thaksin, who was toppled in a September 2006 coup.
Army chief General Anupong Paojinda said on Friday that the government must “take responsibility.”
“It must investigate how things went wrong after it issued the order [for police to disperse crowds] and then consult among themselves how to take responsibility,” Anupong told Channel 3 television.
“There are many ways for the government to be responsible in order to help the country move on,” he said.
“To launch a coup at this time will not solve the problem ... except to achieve the primary goal of ... easing the situation, but I don’t think it would solve the whole problem so the army’s stance is no coup,” Anupong said.
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