Top Privy Councillor General Prem Tinsulanonda said yesterday good leaders were "just".

He made his comments in an address to 500 midshipmen at the Naval Academy.

Prem called on the armed serv¬ices to lead the way in upholding moral and ethical principles. The absence of these would allow cor¬ruption and favouritism to thrive.

"Without morals and ethics, everything is doomed to collapse through graft violations and the dispensing of favours to relatives and cronies," he said.

A good leader is just and no one should confuse illgotten wealth as a sign of success and respectabili¬ty, he added.

This was his second appearance before a military audience in two weeks.

In an address at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy on July 14, he rallied the military behind the nation and the monarchy.

Yesterday, he repeated that. "As I told Chulachomklao cadets, soldiers belong to the nation and His Majesty the King, while a govern¬ment is a supervisor of the armed forces ensuring policy implemen¬tation," he said.

He told the sailors to realise the integrity of their uniform and live up to people's expectations, as well as safeguarding King and country with their lives.

The Nation