BKK POST: Chuan vows to help end

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

February 17, 1998


                                     



                       THAI-CAMBODIAN RELATIONS

              Chuan vows to
              help end stalemate

              Premier also voices support for Burma

              Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday pledged his full
              support for troubled neighbours Burma and Cambodia.

              Mr Chuan also said his seven-party coalition was stable enough,
              despite its slim parliamentary majority, to stay in office and help
              the two countries.

              "I am confident that my coalition is stable enough to carry out
              immediate tasks ahead," Mr Chuan told Reuters in an interview
              at Government House.

              The prime minister said his government would help to resolve a
              political stalemate in Cambodia, where Prince Norodom
              Ranariddh was ousted as first prime minister after a coup last
              July by second premier Hun Sen.

              Mr Chuan said Thailand would also play a role in Burma, where
              the ruling military junta is at political odds with the main
              opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and with
              the West over the junta's human rights record.

              Thailand, as a member of Asean, had long adhered to the
              grouping's principle of peaceful co-existence and
              non-interference in internal affairs, he said.

              "But within the Asean family, there is certain expectation ... in the
              case of Cambodia, Thailand is a member of the troika (Thailand,
              Indonesia, and the Philippines) that has been appointed to look
              into the issue," he said.

              "We are also Cambodia's immediate neighbour, so Thailand will
              do what it can to help ensure peace, progress and stability in
              Cambodia," he added.

              Mr Chuan met Prince Ranariddh last Friday and pledged his full
              support for the prince's planned return to Phnom Penh in early
              March to participate in an election.

              Mr Chuan also said he supported Burma's roles in any forum
              attended by Asean members.

              Burma was admitted in last July as a full member of the group,
              joining Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
              Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

              Burma is set to participate in the upcoming Asem-EU summit
              scheduled to be held in London in early April but the European
              Union has expressed its strong opposition to Burma's
              participation.

              A spokesman for the Burmese military junta, the State Peace
              and Development Council (SPDC), had urged Asean not to bow
              to EU and western pressure.

              "We appeal to Asean members not to bow to pressure of
              westerners, otherwise it will be a bad precedent for the future," a
              government spokesman said.

              On Thailand's stance on Burma's presence at the summit, Mr
              Chuan said: "If the conference calls for Asean's participation as a
              group, all Asean members must support one another as a group.

              "But in the case of bilateral conferences at the summit involving
              participation of each individual country, then it would be up to
              each individual country to deal with the issue," he added.

              On Thai politics, in which multi-party coalitions have rarely
              survived in office for more than two years, Mr Chuan voiced
              confidence the new constitution would make politics more stable.

              He said his immediate challenges were to bring the battered Thai
              economy back on track and to pass electoral laws as required
              by the constitution to pave the way for future elections.

              "My government did not set a time frame for its tenure or for
              dissolving Parliament to pave way for elections. But after we are
              confident that the economic situation is back on track and that
              proper preparation is made for free and fair elections, then we
              would return power to the people to make their decision," Mr
              Chuan said. - Reuters 




                                     




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Last Modified: Tue, Feb 17, 1998