Win for pro-Thaksin party will not cause 'chaos'- coup leader

Win for pro-Thaksin party will not cause 'chaos'- coup leader

	Published : Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:01 By : Agencies Print this Story

BANGKOK (Thomson Financial) - General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the coup against Thaksin Shinawatra last year, said Friday that a victory by the ousted premier's allies in weekend polls would not cause 'chaos' in the kingdom.

Thaksin is living in self-imposed exile in the UK, and the military has relentlessly sought to erase his political influence by disbanding his party and freezing about 2 billion dollars' worth of his assets.

But that hasn't stopped Thaksin's supporters from regrouping as the People Power Party (PPP), which is heading into Sunday's elections with a strong lead in most opinion polls.

Sonthi told reporters that if the PPP wins the election or heads a coalition government, Thailand will not descend back into the political turmoil that has racked the country for the past two years.

'If the People Power Party win in the election and lead a coalition, everything will end peacefully. I am convinced that things will change without any chaos,' Sonthi said.

'I really want Thaksin to come home so that he can see what is right what is wrong here in Thailand,' he said.

Sonthi said he would not consider the coup a failure if the election results in a victory for the PPP, which has already promised to ensure Thaksin is able to return to Thailand.

'I don't view the coup as a failure. In the future, people will look back and see that the coup was hugely beneficial to Thailand,' he said.

But asked if Thailand could see another coup after the elections, Sonthi said: 'I cannot say. I am not the one who wanted to stage this coup. Nobody in the whole world wanted to see this coup. The military mounted the coup at the urging of the people.'

Thailand has seen 18 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.

Analysts predict that no party will be able to win a clear majority in the elections, saying Thailand will likely see a coalition government led either by the PPP or the rival Democrat Party.

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