Govt has a right to control the military

It is the government’s right and duty to ensure national security and public safety, using the military (and police) as its tools.
General Prawit says that the Defence Ministry Administrative Act was enacted on the basis of professional performance evaluation, and only soldiers were in a position to decide who, within their ranks, should serve in what position. If that’s the case, then the act has failed in its objective, and Parliament must amend it immediately. For example, it’s standard procedure to appoint/remove generals not on the basis of how well they’ve met transparent, job-related key performance indicators (KPIs), but by seniority (if an officer has achieved much while in a post, then use those accomplishments to justify advancement – not how long he’s warmed the seat), graduating class and political ties.
General Prawit says that the intention of the military line-up law is to foster unity in the armed forces; no wonder they move so smoothly together to remove elected governments! I suggest that if the armed forces and police had rigorous job-related evaluation and promotion systems in place, they would respect one another, and have high morale, because they would know that one’s rank had to be earned through demonstrating outstanding ability to meet job-related KPIs. If we faithfully followed such systems, for example, voters won’t have to wonder why Police General Wichean became top cop, nor would Pol General Praewpan have to protest that he deserves that position because of (irrelevant) seniority. Also, had they been truly accountable to the civilian government through following their KPIs, the Army/police would have immediately halted such counter-productive acts as the alleged 2,500 extra-judicial killings during Thaksin’s last anti-drug war, and immediately court-martialled the generals responsible for the use of excessive force at Krue Se or manslaughter at Tak Bai.
As US Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “The US military carries out the orders at the direction of the president of the United States … obviously, the president is elected by our people, as is our Congress, who passes our laws. And the military remains completely neutral, what I call an apolitical position on everything. So we carry out the direction that we get from the president of our country. And at the core of who we are, the United States, is to protect the freedoms and the principles that we cherish in our country, which underpins our democracy and what we’ve been as a country for 235 years.
“So it’s very easy on the one hand to carry out the orders that we’re given … because the American people elect our political leadership. It’s worked for 235 years, and it’s going to work for centuries into the future.”
General Prawit, stand down, sir, and support amendment of the Defence Ministry Administrative Act so that we have a non-political military and police force, united in serving our king and country.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok