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Published on November 10, 2007

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratglin yesterday ruled out any turmoil from a People Power Party victory and any resentment of the coup behind votes cast for the party.

"The law will decide who is right or wrong as I don't think any comments to sway votes should count for anything," he said.

PPP leader Samak Sundaravej had said earlier that soliciting votes was an anti-coup message.

Although the PPP supposedly has the inside track, constituents can make up their own minds, said Sonthi, who led the September 2006 coup when he was the Army commander-in-chief.

"The people know what the problems were for years" and understand the September 19 coup and the restoration of democratic rule, he said.

Sonthi, who retired from the military in October, said he saw no justification to interpret votes either as disapproval of his staging of the putsch or as endorsement of the policies of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"The fate of Thaksin depends on the judicial review and not the outcome of the polling," he said.

Democracy will stay on course even if ousted government leaders return to power, he said, and voters are expected to cast ballots based on personal ties with individual candidates, not the popularity of the PPP.

It is too late in the game for him to run, he said, although he will soon decide his post-election future: "I may have an answer on November 13."

Junta chief Air Chief Marshal Chalit Phukphasuk said he had no objection to two anti-coup campaigners joining the race as PPP party-list candidates and expected Jatuporn Phromphan and Manit Chitchanklap to abide by campaign rules.

"I don't expect electioneering to spiral out of control," he said.

The Nation