Nine days after it seized power in a lightning coup, the Council for Demo-cratic Reform has vowed to rule over an unstable Thailand before allowing a civilian government take over the reins of national administration.

But a draft of its charter leaked to the press indicates the junta

will not go away as it has promised.

Instead, it will become the

most powerful body in the Kingdom - as long as a new

constitution is not introduced.

The CDR took the first step of whitewashing itself and diverting public attention from its intentions by renaming itself as the Council of National Security (CNS) on Monday.

The CDR name will vanish by next week. Once the temporary charter receives royal endorsement on Sunday, the same group of CDR leaders will retain power as the national ruling body under the new name of CNS.

The military junta led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin is duplicating the temporary charter of its predecessor - the National Peace-keeping Council (NPKC) - which usurped the civilian government of then prime minister Chatchai Choonhavan in February 1991.

Although the NPKC under General Sunthorn Kongsompong claimed that it had returned power to the people through the 1991 interim charter, which allowed a civil government to be formed, the junta actually pulled all the strings.

The 1991 charter allowed the NPKC to appoint and oust the prime minister - a prerogative that the CDR did not forget to include in its own version. It was a crucial condition that let NPKC leader Sunthorn jettison the premier if he stopped acting as a "yes" man or started rebelling against the coup leaders.

In the current context, Sonthi will have ultimate authority to control the new prime minister.

In other words, the new prime minister will not be able to work independently as the leader of an elected civil administration normally does. He instead will have to confer with the CNS and inform it of every move he makes, from appointing Cabinet members to implementing regular government programmes.

If there is no green light from the junta, the prime minister can do nothing. He then will become a mere puppet.

Sonthi's junta under the new moniker "CNS" will hold the same power of approving the government's decisions as the NPKC had in 1991. The temporary charter will force the Cabinet to consult the CNS. No significant orders or policies can be implemented without the junta's nod.

CNS chairman Sonthi will also have the power to appoint about 250 people to the National Legislative Council, which will pave the way for drafting a new constitution.

This is the thing that will surely protect the junta in the long run and, if possible, block the return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra permanently.

As the most formidable force in the country, Sonthi's junta did not forget to follow their "predecessors" in 1991, the NPKC, by declaring an amnesty for themselves.

The temporary charter states that all actions under the junta since the day of the coup on September 19 are legitimate and legal.

The CDR's spokesman insisted on Monday that the CNS would not be the prime minister's boss and vice versa. It would only become the protector of the interim government.

But in the aftermath of the coup - with several interest groups still resisting the rise to power of the CDR - nothing can guarantee that the junta will keep its pledge. At least, its new temporary charter has already reflected the big shadow cast by its clan over the interim government.

Weerayut Chokchaimadon

The Nation