Thread: PM says the majority's view must be respected

POLITICS / THAKSIN'S RADIO BROADCAST, DEFENCE MINISTER ON PM RUMOURS, ANTI-COUP GROUPS, DEMOCRAT LEADER ON DISSOLUTION
PM says the majority's view must be respected

SUPAWADEE INTHAWONG

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont feels certain elements opposing the Council for National Security and government are ''voices of the minority'' who should respect what most people think. Gen Surayud said that while minority views were inevitable in society, it is the majority of people who should chart the course for the country.

He made the statement after anti-coup organisations announced their campaign to shoot down the constitution draft in the referendum.

''Of course, we listen to the minorities' opinions. But at the end of the day, it is the mandate of most people that we should take into account,'' the prime minister said.

He said the country does not belong to any specific group. Most people now do not wish to see protracted instability.

Gen Surayud added he was still confident the next general elections will proceed in December or sooner.

Anti-coup activists have banded together to urge people to reject the constitution of the CNS-appointed drafters, saying it is undemocratic.

The campaign is being engineered by a network called the Anti-Coup Alliance, which claims to have the support of 22 organisations.

The alliance staged a discussion at Thammasat University yesterday to denounce the CNS and the draft constitution, labelling it ''an unborn baby conceived by rape which should be aborted''.

During the discussion, Sombat Boonngarm-anong, the webmaster of www.nocoup.org, said the campaign would encourage people to reject the draft constitution.

Accepting the draft will only prolong the coup makers' ideology and their grip on power, he said.

The alliance backs an improved version of the now-abrogated 1997 constitution, dubbed the most democratic in history.

Former Thammasat University rector Charnwit Kasetsiri, who also attended yesterday's session, said the draft charter was undemocratic in several parts.

He said it was hard to predict if the referendum could eventually provoke violence. But he said that with the advent of communication technology such as email, the government could not manipulate the flow of information.

Fifty soldiers and police detained for questioning some 30 anti-coup activists before their planned rally in downtown Chiang Mai yesterday.
The authorities stopped the White Dove 2006 group's plan to speak out against the CNS and the government.

Bangkok Post