Thai Caretaker PM calls for public participation in political development

NAKHON PATHOM, THAILAND, March 25 (TNA) - Thailand's Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants the public to have their say in any domestic political development, including the appointment of an interim prime minister as speculated. Yingluck made the comment on Tuesday, in response to a caretaker minister's remarks that some persons are possible candidates to be the interim prime minister after the possible end of the Yingluck’s government. Yingluck told journalists, after the Cabinet's weekly meeting in Bangkok's adjacent Nakhon Pathom Province, that apart from the public participation, the appointment process of an interim prime minister must be acceptable to the Thai people. Yingluck also urged all big political parties to participate in Thailand's next general election to promote and uphold democracy. However, Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), told reporters that the revealed list of possible interim prime minister candidates was only an imagination of the pro-government red-shirt movement and it came too early. Suthep acknowledged that his PDRC's present missions are to push for Yingluck's resignation and the elimination of the influence of exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's elder brother. Earlier, Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar, who is a core leader of the pro-government red-clad United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), announced some persons as potential interim prime minister candidates, indicating that the PDRC and elites have tried to appoint an interim government by next month and the UDD will reveal their names on March 26, vowing that his red-shirt movement will strongly oppose the attempt.(TNA)