Thailand's military coup leaders are close to naming a civilian prime minister and he is likely to be a lawyer able to steer political reform, not the expected economist, air force chief Chalit Phukpasuka said today.
A new constitution was the top priority, which meant legal expertise was the main requirement, he told reporters three days after the military took over and said it would appoint a civilian prime minister within two weeks, then step back.
"He should have the best expertise in law because our goal is to amend the constitution," said Mr Chalit, one of the military chiefs who took power on Tuesday to oust billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was out of the country.
"The economy can be looked after by a deputy prime minister."
The new favourite for the job of producing a constitution without the flaws Thaksin was accused of exploiting to accumulate near-dictatorial powers was Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat.
Mr Chalit confirmed Mr Ackaratorn was a candidate, but declined to elaborate. Mr Ackaratorn said he had not been approached and refused to say whether he would take the job if offered it.
Speculation had centred on former World Trade Organisation chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and central bank boss Pridiyathorn Devakula, respected men thought most likely to assure the world that Thailand's export-dependent economy was in good hands.
The military said it had been forced into Tuesday's coup because there was no other way out of a crisis that pitted Mr Thaksin, twice an election winner in a landslide, against the old guard and street campaigners determined to drive him out.
Hopes that the coup-makers were right prompted foreign investors into their biggest day of buying on the Thai stock market this year on Thursday.
A day later, however, the stock index fell nearly 1.6 per cent as the military council set up a body to probe allegations of corruption under Mr Thaksin.
"The market is talking about sell orders from nominee accounts owned by politicians and relatives on concerns about the investigation," Kim Eng Securities analyst Pongpan Apinyakul said.
Mr Thaksin's relatives and political colleagues would be a particular focus, judges invited onto the panel said, and companies associated with Mr Thaksin led the stock market fall.
Thaksin, whose Shin Corp. grew into Thailand's biggest telecommunications group, has denied charges of corruption since street campaigners began throwing them at him late last year.
However, his family's tax-free sale of its controlling stake in the company to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings in January infuriated Bangkok's middle classes.