Country needs long-term military supervision, says Prawit
In a bid to solve Thailand's "unique" problems it is necessary to have military commanders oversee a long-term national strategy, said Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan on Monday.
"Previous problems stemmed from misunderstandings," Prawit said. "Those military chiefs will help provide opinions on panels, with academics to counterbalance them."
Prawit referred to the national strategy bill draft, which stipulates the committee made up of the prime minister, his deputy or another minister, the presidents of the Upper and Lower houses, experts, as well as five military commanders and a permanent secretary of the Defence Ministry.
According to the bill draft, the committee would be authorised to work on the 20-year national strategy, which would oblige any Cabinet to follow it and report its performance to Parliament.
While the bill draft reasons that this body is needed to align government agencies in this process, the public wonders whether the military-dominated committee could influence future governments in their policy-making.
However, Prawit insisted the bill draft merely provided a broad strategy-mechanism framework and was flexible in future contexts.
"National strategy needs to be driven by all parties, whether the military, people or academics," he added. "There will be only five or six military heads there just to make sure that all blocs can move forward together."