Gen Prawit to Thaksin: We didn’t cause turbulence
DEPUTY Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan today (Sept 19, 2018) said his group has not caused any turbulence in the country as indicated by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a Facebook post, the Thai-language daily Matichon reported.
In his post marking the 12th anniversary of the coup that ousted him, Thaksin said that there were 2 coups over the past 12 years which have led to the country sliding backwards. He also called for old foes to sit down and hold talks.
However Gen Prawit pointed out that his group of people stepped in to resolve problems in the country and did not trigger any chaos.
On Thaksin’s call for old foes to hold a dialogue, Gen Prawit said Thaksin should first clear the legal cases he is facing.
Regarding the full removal of the political ban, Gen Prawit said this can only be done after 90 days.
He added that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had already relaxed 9 areas of the political ban, with the only one remaining being advertising, but election campaigning would have to wait till December.
On political parties not being allowed to use social media for campaigning, he said this cannot be done right now because speaking on social media is akin to speaking out loud, and the Election Commission would have to consider whether parties doing so are in fact campaigning, and what legal action they should face.
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Top: Gen Prawit talking to the press today with an image of Thaksin inset. Photo: Matichon
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