Prayut may reveal his political plans after Brussels trip
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday hinted that he might spell out his political future after he returns from a trip to Brussels later this week.
Before he boarded an Air Force plane at the Don Mueang military airport for a trip to Brussels on Monday, reporters approached him for comments about his political future.
A reporter asked him whether he would officially announce his political future once he returns from Brussels, Prayut replied: “I’ll answer this question when I return.”
The prime minister is attending the Asean-European Union Summit in Brussels to mark the 45th anniversary of ties between the two groupings. He is scheduled to leave Brussels on Thursday.
It has been widely speculated that Prayut and a group of Palang Pracharath Party MPs would join the new Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party in a bid to enable him to continue as prime minister for two more years after the next general election.
The election is tentatively scheduled for May 7 subject to the House of Representatives not being dissolved before it completes its four-year term on March 22.
If Prayut wins the prime minister’s post again, he will be able to remain in office until 2025 in accordance with a ruling of the Constitutional Court.
A reporter asked Prayut to comment on a recent opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration that Ruam Thai Sang Chart has little chance of deciding the next coalition leader. Prayut replied: “I don’t know who carried out the survey and whom they interviewed.”
When asked whether he had any concerns during his trip, Prayut replied that he had no worries because he had put in place a system for governance to proceed systematically and he has entrusted all policies to respective committees and ministries to carry out.
