Thailand's new military leaders pledged on the morning after the coup to install a civilian prime minister within two weeks to replace Thaksin Shinawatra, setting themselves an October 4 deadline.
BANGKOK: Thailand's new military leaders pledged on the morning after the coup to install a civilian prime minister within two weeks to replace Thaksin Shinawatra, setting themselves an October 4 deadline.
Coup leader and Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said the junta wanted a transitional leader who is "neutral and wants to uphold democracy."
Revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej will be asked to confirm the new prime minister Wednesday after coup leaders drew up a shortlist over the weekend, sources and news reports said.
The following men are seen as front-runners:
Supachai Panitchpakdi
The former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and current chairman of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Supachai Panitchpakdi, has the highest international profile. A career economic diplomat and former deputy premier, 60-year-old Supachai could help rebuild confidence after the crisis among trade partners and foreign investors. Supachai rose as a Bank of Thailand technocrat before becoming deputy finance minister and head of the Thai Military Bank in the 1980s.
In 1992, he became deputy premier in a Democrat Party government charged with overseeing economic policy at a time of rapid economic growth.
He served as WTO chief from 2002 until August 2005, and assumed his UN post in Geneva the following month. Some Thai media have expressed doubt he would give up his UN post for one offered by the junta.
Charnchai Likhitchittha
Supreme Court president Charnchai Likhitchittha, 60, emerged as a front runner with the regime saying it favoured a legal expert as it wrestles with a new constitution and corruption probes.
The Nation newspaper on Sunday said Charnchai was ahead in the race for the interim premiership, quoting a military source saying "his spirit of compromise is suitable for the country's top leadership at this juncture."
Charnchai, described in media reports as flexible and competent, was among three senior judges tasked by the king in April to resolve Thailand's political deadlock following inconclusive elections.
They later annulled the election, finding irregularities in the poll that Thaksin initially claimed he had won.
Pridiyathorn Devakula
Thailand's central bank chief was among the first names to be mentioned as possible premier. The 59-year-old former president of the Exim Bank has solid economic credentials and a reputation for independence in presenting economic data under the Thaksin government that appointed him.
In comments to the media shortly after the coup, Pridiyathorn said he had not been approached but did not rule out standing.
"The revolution... was not that bad and there was no violence," he said, adding the change was "acceptable" and should not affect investment.
Because of distant royal ties, Pridiyathorn carries the title "Momrajawong" in a country where the monarch is revered.
The Bangkok Post in a front-page article on Saturday tipped Pridiyathorn's predecessor as central bank chief, Chatumongol Sonakul, 62, as the next premier.
Akkharathorn Chularat
Akkharathorn Chularat, 66, is the president of the Supreme Administrative Court, a new forum for citizens to challenge the bureaucracy.
Scores of journalists on Sunday camped outside his east Bangkok home as his name was thrown into the fray.
A former senator and constitution drafting committee member, Akkharathorn has the legal expertise required by the junta. He received a law degree from Bangkok's prestigious Thammasat University and a doctorate in Rome. He is a former secretary to the Office of the Council of State, which provides legal advice to the government.
He was among the judges the king chose to attempt to resolve the political crisis via legal means in the months before the coup.
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