General Prayut backs democratic process, hopes for peace and development
Caretaker Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has thanked voters for their support and said he respected democracy.
Prayut spoke at 10pm on Sunday as it became clear that his United Thai Nation (UTN) Party had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the opposition’s Move Forward and Pheu Thai.
Prayut vowed to continue performing his duties for nation, religion and King for his entire life, in line with his party’s philosophy.
The 2014 coup-leader said he respected democracy and elections, and hoped for peace and development in Thailand.
UTN leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga confirmed that General Prayut would stay on as the party’s strategist, adding that UTN would respect the democratic transition of power. He said his expectations for his two-year-old party had not been high going into the election.
"We did not expect anything. We just wanted all our constituency MP candidates to put in maximum effort.”
Pirapan also praised Prayut for encouraging UTN members during the election campaign, adding that he behaved as a professional politician.
On the formation of a new government, Peeraphan said the democratic should be respected. He denied UTN was negotiating with other parties and said it would wait for the election result to be finalised.
