Sukampol dismisses rumours of top general conspiring to oust govt
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Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat yesterday dismissed rumours about a top Army general and a coalition MP conspiring to topple the government.
“I should not be asked to comment on every rumour that is circulated at coffee shops,” he said.
Sukampol refused to speculate on how or why red-shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana had chosen to spread such rumours.
Kwanchai alleged that Army deputy chief General Dapong Ratanasuwan had recently met with Chart Thai Pattana MP Sanan Kachornprasart to plot the government’s ouster. This meeting allegedly took place at Bonanza Khao Yai resort in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Sukampol said he was certain that the Army would not have a hand in trying to usurp power and there should really be no question of a military intervention because Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha had ruled out any chance of a power seizure, he added.
Dapong, meanwhile, has said that it was unfair to link him to the rumour because he was not close to Sanan and had never been to the resort in question. He added that he did have a few work-related meetings with Sanan when he served as deputy PM under the previous government. The two have not been in touch since the Pheu Thai Party came to power, Dapong said.
While discussing the conspiracy, however, Kwanchai was unable to explain three crucial issues: how the Dapong-Sanan connection had developed, why would the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party want to oust this government and why would the meeting take place at a resort that is considered a stronghold of the red shirts.
As for Education Minister Suchart Tadathamrongvej’s prediction about the government collapsing by the year’s end, his former adviser Prasang Mongkonsiri said he believed that Suchart was basing his prediction on the insurmountable obstacles he faced in trying to implement education reforms.
“Bureaucratic red tape is a major challenge for a minister to overcome in order to ensure progress as pledged to the people,” he said.
Prasang said that though Suchart was capable, he was unfit as education minister because he was unwilling to upset the apple cart by rooting out corruption. He said he expected veteran politicians like Chaturon Chaisang, Pongthep Thepkancha and Pongsak Ruktapongpisal as potential candidates to replace Suchart.
A new Cabinet line-up should emerge by August, he said.
