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Published on November 27, 2007

"From my youth to old age, I have never abandoned my stand for being an honest and grateful individual," he said.

Banharn said he was disheartened by the headlines accusing him of going back on his pledges given to his mentor and the Democrats.

"My comments were reported word by word without giving the proper context," he said.

Banharn explained that he had tried to answer a persistent question on the coalition formation, and said his remarks were meant to explain the usual practice whereby each party campaigns without any prior commitment.

He said he did not use the word "forget" in his ties with the Democrats to undo the Democrat-Chat Thai alliance, but to mean that reporters should "forget" to question his stand - which he claimed has never wavered.

He said his mentor and the Democrats understood that what he said was part of "campaign talk" geared for constituents from different regions.

"I have to tailor my speeches to appeal to different constituents - my campaigning style in the Central Region is different from that in the Northeast," he said.

He said no political parties would fall into respective camps in the lead-up to the balloting as the coalition and the opposition would only emerge after the outcome.

Banharn said opinion polls about the outcome could shed light on the race but should not be construed as an accurate prediction because sentiments could change in the three weeks left for campaigning. 

The Nation