Thailand Coalition Names New Premier

The five-party coalition that holds a thin majority in Thailand’s Parliament on Thursday named a former air force officer to become prime minister, replacing the army general who resigned in disgrace.

The nomination of Somboon Rahong must be approved by the king and must win the support of a majority in Parliament--by no means a sure thing given the political convulsions last week after anti-government demonstrations that left at least 48 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Army commander Gen. Issaraprong Noonpackdee was quoted by The Nation newspaper Thursday as having warned opposition forces to drop their demands for trials of military leaders in connection with last week’s events. Issaraprong said, “Don’t force me into becoming a cornered dog,” the newspaper said. That served to fuel coup rumors in this jittery capital.

Suchinda Kraprayoon, the disgraced former prime minister, has been in seclusion since his resignation Sunday, and the armed forces supreme commander, Air Chief Marshal Kaset Rojananil, has been lying low since the weekend.

Suchinda and the military leadership were given a blanket amnesty from prosecution by a royal decree issued Saturday night, but opposition parties have forced the clemency issue into a constitutional committee to test the decree’s legal validity.

Legal scholars and Western diplomats have expressed doubts that the military could be successfully prosecuted in any case, since it was operating under the framework of a legally declared state of emergency imposed soon after the violence flared May 17.

In a further effort to clear the military leadership, the army secretary, Maj. Gen. Chaturith Phronsaka, said Thursday that commanders never ordered troops to fire on demonstrators. He said they were ordered to fire only in the air.

“It was an accident,” Chaturith told a news conference, speaking of the dozens of deaths.

The nomination of Somboon is likely to prove controversial, even though he was elected to Parliament March 22, unlike Suchinda, who was appointed prime minister by the five-party coalition and whose lack of a voters’ mandate made him illegitimate in the eyes of the opposition.

Somboon heads the Chart Thai Party, one of the five in the governing coalition, which makes him vulnerable to criticism as one of the key backers of Suchinda and other military leaders. A former air chief marshal, he is thought to be especially close to Kaset, now the armed forces supreme commander.

One of the issues that touched off the anti-government demonstrations was rising public concern about military interference in politics. While Somboon is an elected member of Parliament, he is widely perceived as a tool of the military.

In an ironic footnote, however, analysts noted that Somboon’s nomination closes the circle after more than a year of political unrest in Thailand. In February, 1991, a military junta headed by Suchinda deposed the country’s last elected prime minister, Chatchai Choonhavan, who was then the leader of Chart Thai. Now, 16 months later, a Chart Thai leader appears to be about to succeed the ousted Suchinda.

Four leading opposition parties said they doubt that Somboon will win the necessary support and suggested that Chaovalit Yongchaiyudh, leader of the New Aspiration Party and head of the official opposition, should try to form the next government.