Thai defense minister says Thaksin should return home only after elections |
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Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:33
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BANGKOK (XFN-ASIA) - Defense minister General Boonrawd Somtas said former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should only return home when the elections are over, to prevent any eruption of 'chaos' in the kingdom.Thaksin has been living in exile since his ouster in a coup in September last year.'The Council for National Security will today discuss Thaksin's return, and they will take his latest movements overseas into consideration,' Boonrawd said, referring to the ruling junta.'Personally I think Thaksin should return to Thailand after elections, to prevent him from creating internal chaos,' he told reporters.Boonrawd said the junta's credibility has not been affected by Thaksin's recent media interviews, in which he criticized the new government's economic policies and also said Thais would not tolerate a dictatorship for long.The general added that the Thai public and foreign governments should treat with skepticism Thaksin's statement that he does not want to return to politics.'His words and his actual actions are different,' Boonrawd said.The junta, which toppled Thaksin in a bloodless coup last September, has promised elections and a return to democracy by the end of this year.afp
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Thai 2007 election will not be delayed by bombings, security clampdown - junta 