I No criticism of Yingluck's capabilities: Yuthasak
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Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha on Tuesday dismissed speculation about the government-military divide on flood control.
“I have checked to confirm that no military leaders regard Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as incompetent,” he said.
Yuthasak said every commander told him they were not involved in airing critical remarks against the prime minister.
He said the news reports quoted an unnamed source who claimed to be a high-ranking officer. But all top commanders were unaware of the origins of the critical remarks, he added.
He said some ill-intentioned people might have fabricated the remarks in order to drive a wedge between the government and the military.
He said he could vouch for the military leaders and that the armed forces were ready to implement flood control measures as per the government's instructions.
“Soldiers work under the government and are not in a position to criticise their superiors,” he said.
Monday's news reports claimed that military leaders were critical of Yingluck, outlining 12 flaws in her leadership on flood control.
The flaws included a lack of experience in rallying the government agencies to fight flooding and several botched decisions such as entrusting officials with no experience on water management to run the Flood Relief Operations Centre.
