Meechai Ruchuphan, centre, elected as speaker of the National Legislative Assembly yesterday, chats with his two deputies Charan Kullavanijaya, left, and Potjanee Thanavaranit at Parliament House.

Despite blessings from respected figures, the election of law veteran Meechai Ruchuphan as the speaker of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) was met with suspicion yesterday.

Somphan Taecha-athick, an academic of Khon Kaen University, said Meechai's election as NLA speaker would worsen the state of civil rights, which had been abused by the junta since the coup of September 19.

"Meechai is an old guard who has written a number of laws giving power to the state rather than the people," said Somphan.

Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda congratulated Meechai on assuming the post of NLA speaker, saying he is a good person as well as a highly-qualified law expert.

He believed that Meechai would be able to effectively lead the assembly.

General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, leader of the Council for National Security (CNS), yesterday des-cribed Meechai as "the best choice".

Somphan said he was concerned that as people have been suppressed by the CNS over freedom of expression, while having long suffered from many laws initiated by Meechai, the country's future will fall into the same old situation of state domination over civil rights.

Somphan believed that Meechai was the only choice of the CNS because he had been involved in drafting its statements, orders and the interim charter.

"All circumstances pointed to Meechai being pre-selected even before the NLA vote," he said.

Meechai, a former senate speaker, was elected although he had been opposed by activists and academics for his record of serving deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as a legal adviser to his government.

In the first NLA session to select the speaker yesterday, he won 167 votes out of 242 NLA members while his fierce contender Prasong Soonsiri got 47 and Purachai Piumsomboon 21.

Chaturon Chaisang, the Thai Rak Thai Party's acting leader, said the selection of Meechai was of no use to the people because he would only follow orders of the most powerful body - the CNS.

"The result didn't surprise me at all because it had been fixed at the beginning," Chaturon said.

As the junta had picked all the NLA members shortly after it deposed Thaksin, he believed the selection of Meechai to serve as NLA Speaker was also planned at the time.

The CNS, Chaturon said, wanted to back Meechai because its leaders knew he would respond positively to any of its orders.

Meechai's entry will not improve the NLA's image, which had been ruined by disputes among its members over a power struggle to back their men to win the speakership, he said.

In recent days, NLA members had been divided in their support for the two leading contenders, Meechai and Prasong Soonsiri. Both sides were neck and neck in the contest before the former won the seat. Chaturon warned the NLA would need a "very good" reason to tell those who did not support the coup why its members had become involved in power control instead of building faith and trust.

Meechai himself pleaded with his critics to give him a chance to work before evaluating the performance of the NLA.

"I will try my best to steer the NLA as a credible lawmaking body," he said. NLA member Surapol Nitikraipoj, also rector of Thammasat University, believed the anti-Meechai groups would stop their moves because most of the NLA members had voted for Meechai without any attempts to lobby for votes.

"All sides have to accept the result and respect the assembly's decision," he said.