Sonthi says talk of him replacing Yingluck is 'nonsense'
General Sonthi Boonyaratglin yesterday dismissed speculation that he would soon replace Yingluck Shinawatra as prime minister, with the blessing of ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
“This is nonsense. There is no likelihood of that,” he said when asked to comment on a claim by yellow-shirt leader Prapan Khoonmee.
Sonthi, who is chairman of the ad hoc House committee on national reconciliation, also denied Prapan’s claim that Sonthi planned to join the Wadah Group of Muslim politicians from the deep South, who are considering a return to the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
“Wadah has no connection to me,” Sonthi said.
Now an MP and leader of the small Matubhum Party, he was backed by Pheu Thai MPs, who form a majority on the House panel on reconciliation, to become its chairman.
The panel submitted its reconciliation proposals to the House of Representatives, which on Thursday night voted to pass the measures on to the Cabinet for further action. Among the more controversial measures proposed by the Sonthi panel are a general amnesty for all people involved in the political conflict and the expunging of all legal cases initiated by the post-coup Assets Examination Commit-tee, including those in which courts have handed down verdicts.
While serving as the Army chief, General Sonthi in September 2006 led a coup that overthrew Thaksin’s government.
During a programme on pro-yellow-shirt, satellite-based ASTV, Prapan said he had recently learned that the Wadah Group was returning to the Pheu Thai fold, with Sonthi becoming part of the group.
He also claimed that “the fugitive on the run overseas” – seen as a reference to Thaksin – passed a message to Sonthi through a Wadah leader that in May there would be a Cabinet reshuffle, in which Yingluck would step down as prime minister and Sonthi would be invited to replace her.
“That could be why Sonthi accepted the post of reconciliation committee chairman and worked devotedly under the close watch of Wattana Muangsuk,” Prapan said, referring to the committee’s deputy chairman, a Thaksin confidant.
Prapan said red-shirt leaders had developed cordial ties with Sonthi and even voiced moral support for him publicly.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday his Democrat Party would monitor the government’s dealings in relation to reconciliation to ensure that the national interest is not compromised for the benefit of an individual.
