BANGKOK, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thailand’s prime minister on Monday dismissed rumours of an impending coup as “fake news”, as speculation ricocheted across a kingdom unsettled by the ill-fated political union between a princess and a party allied to the powerful Shinawatra clan.
Conjecture has coursed through Thailand since Friday when the Thai Raksa Chart party proposed Princess Ubolratana, King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s elder sister, as a candidate for prime minister after the March 24 election.
Hours later, a royal command from the king appeared to put a pin in her unprecedented political aspirations.
It said the monarchy was above politics and described his sister’s candidacy as “highly inappropriate”.
The slapdown by an unassailable monarch – protected by some of the world’s harshest royal defamation laws – who has never addressed the public in such strong terms, set off a chain reaction.
A chastened Thai Raksa Chart, a key pillar in the election strategy of billionaire ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, swiftly agreed to comply with the command.
Election authorities meeting Monday are expected to discuss whether the use of the princess’s name was unconstitutional, a first step towards dissolving the party.
Adding to the uncertainty, chatter of an impending coup against the ruling party leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha and a major change in army top brass has billowed out, with the hashtag #coup trending in the top 10 in Thai Twitter.
But on Monday the gruff former general, who masterminded a putsch against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister, in 2014, tried to stop it short.
“Rumours … ? We’re investigating. Fake news,” he told reporters at Government House about the merits of the speculation.
Thailand’s generals have a penchant for coups, backroom plotting and factional struggles.
They have grabbed power 12 times since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, including against existing factions seen to have over-stepped their mark.
Prayut, a gruff ex-army chief turned political head, has agreed to stand for premier after the election and is aided by an army-scripted constitution.
But critics say he has personalised power and outstayed his welcome with a public wearied by his finger-jabbing style.
The king appointed a new army chief, Apirat Kongsompong, last year from a rival faction of the army to Prayut and his allies.
Recent days have seeded unease, with the first election in eight years now seemingly dependent on behind-the-scenes power plays by the elite.
“Pls#NoMoreCoup WTF with this country,” said one Twitter user, while another said “I wish we have only #election2019”.
Meanwhile, the fate of Thai Raksa Chart hangs in the balance.
The party, a second to the Thaksin political powerhouse Pheu Thai, was expected to help the Shinawatra machine secure a majority in the 350-seat lower house.
But it is under intense pressure following its bid to bring in the princess.
“I think the party leader and board should take a responsibility by resigning,” said Srisuwan Janya of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, a royalist activist group, who submitted a petition to election authorities Monday calling for the party’s censure. — NNN-AGENCIES
