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Published on September 25, 2007

Retiring Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has expressed his interest in the post of deputy prime minister in charge of security affairs, Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said yesterday.

Boonrawd said he had talked to Sonthi about the matter and "No problem" was the reply from the Council for National Security chairman.

The defence minister also offered to make way General Sonthi, who reiterated with him that it would be up to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

"If he [Sonthi] wants to double as deputy prime minister and defence minister, I am glad to make way for him, but from our talk [it seemed] he just wants the deputy prime minister's post. To simply put it, the work at the Defence Ministry is all right,'' he said.

Boonrawd also did not rule out the possibility of Sonthi replacing Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya, saying the decision is up to the prime minister.

Asked to respond to reports that Surayud may be sacked to pave the way for Sonthi to become prime minister, Boonrawd said that when Surayud returns from the UN General Assembly in New York, things would become clearer. He said Sonthi and Surayud were still on good terms.

Boonrawd admitted there have been moves to topple Surayud but he believed the public would not like to see the general election postponed because of internal strife in the interim government.

Boonrawd said he had summoned Defence Ministry deputy permanent secretary Admiral Bannawit Kengrien to tell him to stop criticising the military annual reshuffle. Bannawit had attacked Sonthi for promoting General Saprang Kalayanamitr to Defence Ministry deputy permanent secretary.

Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham yesterday also voiced support for the move to appoint Sonthi as deputy prime minister overseeing security, saying it was good in principle.

The Nation