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Published on December 28, 2007

 The prospect of the pro-Thaksin People Power Party leading the next coalition government is causing some discomfort among the military top brass. Senior military officers, particularly the members and close associates of the Council for National Security, which toppled then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the September 2006 coup, are bracing themselves for a possible reprisal from the incoming government. The PPP, the biggest winner in the December 23 election, is widely expected to take power from the military junta and the interim Surayud government after it musters enough support from smaller parties to form a coalition government. The Democrat Party, the runner-up in the nationwide poll, is expected to be the main opposition in the House of Representatives.

In the unlikely event of failure by the PPP to put together a coalition government, the Democrat Party may have the opportunity to step in and form an alternative political alliance to govern the country. It is a good sign that senior military officers have already expressed their readiness to disengage themselves from politics and submit to the authority of the democratically elected civilian government. Which is the way it should be.

But a wholesale purge in the military is an unlikely scenario. The PPP, which is simply a reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party, must have learned the lesson by now that, in its relationship with the military, there is an invisible line that a civilian government must not cross.

It is a fact that during the election campaign, some political parties used strong language and provocative rhetoric to try to capture voters' attention. Some PPP members made hints about possible retribution against the military leaders linked to the coup. However, if and when it takes office, the PPP is expected to become more responsible and sensible - or at the very least, it should appear so in the eye of the public.

On the other hand, the military has also learned a valuable lesson over the past 15 months since the overthrow of the Thaksin government: even though it was, and still is, capable of staging a coup, it has very limited capability in running a country such as Thailand with a complex and evolving political system and a modern economy.

Several of the top generals who were directly involved in the coup have already retired or were sidelined in the most recent military leadership reshuffle that took place in October. So, unless military leaders commit serious wrongdoing or show disrespect towards the new civilian government, the chance of anyone being unfairly removed or demoted is slim.

Both the civilian government and the military must learn to develop a new, healthier relationship as Thailand tries to rebuild its democracy from scratch. The civilian government has the mandate of the Thai people to rule. The armed forces, as part of the state's apparatus, must serve and protect the national development strategies and goals as envisioned in the government's policies.

It must be made clear, and be understood by all, that the civilian government has the power to hire and fire military officers. But because the military is a specialised and essential state agency, responsible for the defence of the country and ensuring national security, the civilian government has the responsibility to run the armed forces under strict rules of sound governance based on meritocracy.

Although there is no question as to who is the boss, the relationship must leave some room for military leaders to take initiatives and to act or make recommendations about what is best for the effective defence of the country.

Good rapport between the civilian government and the military is crucially important at a time when the country is facing a major threat from Islamic militants/Malay separatists in the deep South. Since the beginning of the insurgency in January 2004, over 2,700 people have been killed in the violence-plagued region.

Political interference in the armed forces, which is what happened under Thaksin, could compromise national defence capability - and the new government must refrain from repeating the mistake. Normalisation of the relationship between the government and the military must be one of the priorities for the country's new leaders.

The Nation