Monarch OKs Ascension of Thai Leader : Asia: Protests greet news that general who led coup last year has become prime minister.

This country’s long and convoluted journey on the road to democracy took a new turn Tuesday when the army general who helped engineer last year’s military coup became the country’s new civilian prime minister.

Gen. Suchinda Kraprayoon, the 58-year-old army commander in chief and the supreme military leader, was appointed to head the government by a decree issued by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“My appointment was unexpected,” Suchinda told reporters. “I decided to accept this job because I am confident in our unity, which I strongly believe will help bring peace and stability.”

Suchinda was chosen prime minister Sunday by a coalition of five pro-military political parties that won the most seats in last month’s election.

The first candidate picked by the coalition, a millionaire businessman named Narong Wongwan, was withdrawn Sunday following a week of embarrassing disclosures that the U.S. government had denied him a visa because of allegations of involvement in the illegal narcotics trade.

Suchinda was required under the constitution to resign his military posts and become a civilian before accepting the job. But he did not take part in elections for a new Parliament last month, and his choice as an unelected prime minister drew immediate fire from pro-democracy forces.

A crowd of about 1,000 students, politicians and supporters of democracy gathered Tuesday at Thammasat University, scene of a famous pro-democracy demonstration in 1976, to protest the choice of Suchinda and demand that an elected member of Parliament be chosen.

“Our four parties will join hands with people all over the country to call for a parliamentary democracy,” said a communique issued by opposition leaders.

Suchinda was prominent in the group of generals who led the bloodless coup in February, 1991, against Chatchai Choonhavan, a retired general who in 1988 became the first elected head of government since 1976. Chatchai’s regime had grown unpopular because it tolerated corruption.

The U.S. government suspended all aid to Thailand following the coup and called for a return to civilian rule.

Now Washington is in the awkward position of having been responsible for the removal from consideration of Narong, an elected member of Parliament, and is under pressure to support the selection of Suchinda, a man it condemned last year.

At his swearing-in ceremony at his house, Suchinda pledged that he would never “become a politician” by running for Parliament, no matter how long he serves as prime minister.

During the campaign for Parliament, Thai politicians coined the phrase “neutral person” as a euphemism to describe people such as army generals who choose to become high officials without bothering to be elected.

Suchinda told reporters that he is not worried about student demonstrations in Bangkok, which he dismissed as unimportant. “What worries me is the opposition from some political parties,” he said. “It’s been determined to allow a neutral person to stand for prime minister, and it’s the majority who propose me.”

Suchinda gave a public pledge last November that he would not be a candidate for prime minister, but the promise has not been mentioned in the last two weeks.

Since the monarchy’s absolute rule was ended in 1932, Thailand has witnessed only brief flirtations with democracy in the Western sense, while it has been dominated by military regimes as authoritarian as the monarchy had been.