Najib attacked for meeting Prayut

A peaceful one-hour protest involving about 25 Malaysians took place in front of the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday as junta leader and Prime Minister Genera Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the Malaysian capital.

Lee Siew Hwa, one of the protesters and a member of the Malaysian Support Group for Democracy in Thailand, told The Nation via e-mail that a senior diplomat at the Thai Embassy came out to accept the protest letter and promised to pass it on to the Thai government.

“[It’s] Thai style. [The diplomat] still smiling to us,” said Lee.

Notable protesters included Chua Tian Chang, a Malaysian member of parliament and three other MPs. Choon Kai, international coordinator of Socialist Party of Malaysia and Irene Xavier from the Committee for Asia Women were also there, a source said.

Prayut met with Thai business executives and Thai residents in Kuala Lumpur yesterday and told them he had been informed about the protest by 20 people in the Malaysian capital. The PM said he had never rejected democracy but asked for understanding about the need for the government to do work now so both the majority and the minority can benefit – saying his takeover was different from the past.

Prayut insisted he had no intention to extend the regime’s time in office beyond the promised timeframe and said he would only use power constructively.

“So far I am tired and my older and younger brothers who came to work are tired although they deserve a rest. In working we have been criticised. The 2006 coup and the 2014 coup are different as there was no colour divide then, but now the divide is widespread, making solving the problem more difficult,” he said.

Meanwhile, the protest letter handed to the embassy stated that the signatories to the letter condemned the Najib Razak-led government for welcoming Prayut in an official visit.

“The reception for Prayut is an act that recognises and lends legitimacy to the illegal government in Thailand, which grabbed power through a military coup,” part of the statement read.

 

Call for repeal of martial law

The statement claimed that the coup “has nothing to do with enhancing democracy and social justice in Thailand” and called for an immediate repeal of martial law, plus an end to the arrest and crackdown on political dissidents, as well as the freeing of all political prisoners and the staging of an election.

In a related development, the Chulalongkorn Community for the People (CCP) issued a statement yesterday marking six months of the coup and denounced the junta, saying the use of martial law had violated the rights of citizens – including freedom of expression, with more than 500 people being summoned and 200 arrested.

The group pointed out that university students are now being targeted and political seminars cannot be held without prior permission from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). It called for the junta to return power to the people immediately and urged all student organisations in the country not to accept or support “power outside the democratic system”.

NCPO spokesperson Colonel Winthai Suvari, however, said there should be a greater exchange of information to create an understanding with the group. He said since the NCPO came to power, crime had fallen considerably and the NCPO wanted public remarks to be constructive, saying the government had always chosen to use ordinary laws prior to applying martial law.

In another related development, First Army Region Commander Lt-General Kampanart Ruddit insisted that martial law did not pose a danger to good people, but said that it would continue to be imposed.

Kampanart defended the NCPO and the government, saying they were not “dictatorial”.

“I insist that martial law is necessary for military officers to carry out their work. But we will chiefly rely on normal laws and police doing the primary work,” the general said.

He said the group at Chulalongkorn University who made the statement was small in number and that the NCPO had spoken to the president of the university already and would try to make the students understand. The commander said there was a need to talk with people who think differently and that people should think positively that everyone has good intentions for the country.

Meanwhile, Kampanart claimed that the five Khon Kaen University students who flashed three-finger anti-coup salutes in front of Prayut recently were paid Bt50,000 to do that by a local politician.