Chuan on Abhisit, Surayud and the danger of ignoring Thaksin

Chuan Leekpai has always had good sense when picking someone for a job.

He chose General Surayud Chulanont as his Army chief, and the professional soldier has now become the incumbent prime minister. As Chuan backed Abhisit Vejjajiva as the leader of his Democrat Party, it's now time to prove whether his man can manage to become the next premier.

Abhisit was always Chuan's choice, although speculation lingers about Chuan's possible return. People keep saying the Democrats might be dissolved by the Constitution Tribunal judges' ruling in the election-fraud case and that Abhisit and other party executive members would be punished by having their election rights revoked for five years. Chuan is seen as the new party leader to replace Abhisit.

"It's impossible to talk about my returning as party leader. The world has changed. I'm tired after being leader of the party for more than 10 years," the Democrat's chief adviser told The Nation in an exclusive interview.

"I'm confident Abhisit can be the next premier after the next election. He has the ability to be a good premier, too," he said.

Chuan, who served as party leader for 12 years, defended the current leader as having just been in the position for two years. "You can't compare Abhisit with me," he said.

He praised Abhisit as a "superb" person and a rarity in Thai politics.

"Abhisit isn't just good. He's superb. What's so special is he decided to jump into politics once he was old enough to apply to run for an MP seat. He can cope with any outcome, win or lose," the 69-year-old politician said.

However, some may think him too young, Chuan said. But in fact, Abhisit was a six-term MP and has a long list of achievements.

As the leader of the party's defence team in the election fraud case, Chuan spoke off his belief that his party will not be dissolved as he has faith in the judges.

"We haven't prepared anything. Honestly. We haven't even registered for a new party. We believe nothing is better than using the truth to defend ourselves. We must accept the result - and trust in justice. We are not careless about not preparing, but we believe justice exists," he said.

Chuan, confident his party will escape dissolution, joked that no applications for Democrat membership would be accepted after May 30, the day of the verdict.

"No need to say anything about changing our party; Abhisit will still be the leader," he said.

He scotched rumours that Mahachon Party leader Sanan Kachornprasart, once the Democrat secretary-general, would return to join the Democrats after the party was dissolved and support Chuan as the new leader.

"Sanan still has to take care of his party," he said.

Asked if Abhisit blew his chance to boost his popularity when prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was on his way down, Chuan said Thaksin controlled all of the media for five-and-a-half years, so Abhisit had no way to tell his story to the public.

While Chuan admired his party leader, whom he hand-picked, his other formerly successful choice has now become somewhat of a disappointment, as Surayud has not performed as expected.

"Surayud is an excellent soldier but not a professional politician. Running politics requires experts in various fields," he said.

Surayud has been criticised for everything he's done since his first day in office.

However, Chuan still supports Surayud but suggests that he appoint an expert team to help him, because it is impossible for Surayud to do everything by himself.

"It's too late to change a horse midstream."

Asked if he felt let down by the man he once appointed as Army chief, Chuan said, "I understand him. Being a politician isn't easy."

Nine years ago Chuan, then prime minister, went against traditional practice to appoint Surayud, the professional soldier, as Army commander. Once Surayud entered politics, their paths sometimes crossed, but Chuan has never spoken personally with Surayud.

What Chuan could do would be to send a letter asking Surayud to allocate more funds for the "abandoned provinces" in the deep South, but the premier has declined that suggestion. Chuan also often criticises Surayud through the media about many issues.

Chuan thinks the government and the Council for National Security (CNS) do not collaborate. The government has yet to respond to the "four claims" of the CNS for staging the coup. That has disappointed the public, he said.

"Before they staged the coup, they [the present government and the CNS] didn't know the 'crisis of the world' [political crisis]," he said.

Chuan said the government should clearly explain to Thais about Thaksin's wrongdoing instead of hiring a US firm to improve Thailand's image on the international stage.

"It's a pity the government always thinks Thais know well what Thaksin did to the country during his tenure. It's not true," he said.

Chuan also warned the government not to underestimate Thaksin. Although Thaksin is in exile, his money is still in the country.

"We used to ask in the past what money can buy, a question that was asked recently, because what couldn't be bought during Thaksin's regime?" said the man dubbed the "Honey-Coated Razor".

The former prime minister said Thaksin might have learned his lesson. During his five-and-a-half years in office, he was personally stingy and did not spend his own money. He allowed his Cabinet members to make money for him to spend. But as a result, he lost power, Chuan said.

"So now I think he will spend without limit, because the money failed to keep him in power," he said.

Nowadays, Chuan still performs MP duty, with frequent visits to his political strongholds, especially in the South. Coincidentally, violence always seems to erupt wherever he visits, and so his fellow Democrats worry about his safety.

"Once I was at the scene of a shooting in the deep South. While I was looking at the victims' bodies, I noticed a policeman rubbing his eyes in disbelief that it was me," he said.

Jintana Panyaarvudh,

Somroutai Sapsomboon,

Kornchanok Raksaseri

The Nation