Thai anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban on Saturday held forums with academics and the military to explain his political reform agenda which has perplexed many, according to dpa. Suthep, whose mass protests forced Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to dissolve parliament on December 9 and call for a snap election on February 2, is seeking to set up a People's Council, with 400 appointed members, to push through political reforms ahead of the next polls. He held a forum with academics at Thammasat University and another with top military brass at the Armed Forces Directorate to explain his reforms, which many claim go against the constitution. Thai Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn in his opening remarks admitted he had heard Suthep's speeches at rallies but "didn't understand them." "We, in the armed forces, follow rules. We are trained as military, we are not good in politics," Thanasak said. Thailand's military has staged 18 coups over the past 81 years, the last of which was in September 2006. Political observers said Suthep's reforms, which include having an appointed prime minister instead of an elected one, will be hard to push through without another coup. The military has so far been playing a mediating role between the government and protesters. "I think they are looking at a new chess board," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. "The military is conservative and some of Suthep's reforms perplex them. And they are worried that they might be targeted for reform too." Suthep appeared to receive a better reception from academics earlier in the day at Thammasat University, one of Thailand's oldest educational institutions. "Please join us. We are the people. We are the power," Suthep said in his opening remarks. His proposed reforms would include stricter penalties for vote buying and political corruption. Suthep wants Yingluck and her caretaker cabinet to resign to pave the way for an appointed prime minister who would set up the People's Council and an interim government. "We have to prepare ourselves to form a people's government. We need a government that has no political parties being involved, a people's council that is free from political parties' influences," Suthep said. Some of the academics agreed with Suthep's proposals. "This is the time for reform, right now, before our next election," said Banjerd Singjaneti, a professor at the National Institute of Development Administration. "The systemic corruption that has been afflicting our county must be eradicated before we go to the polls." On Sunday, the government will stage its own reform forum, which Suthep has declined to attend.
