Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon insists the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will not seek to prolong its power after the election and Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha will not stay on as PM for five years.
He was responding to concerns raised by some political observers, including former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, that the five-year transitional period mentioned by Gen Prayut could mean he would remain in his position for five more years.
No legal mechanism would be in place to force the NCPO to continue in its role after the election, Gen Prawit said.
Speaking from Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday after his return from an official visit to Russia, he said Gen Prayut did not mean he would continue serving as prime minister for five more years after the election.
He meant it would take five years to implement the reforms set out in the proposed national strategic plan on reform.
He said this matter would be clarified in the draft charter's provisional clause being worked out by Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Meechai Ruchupan.
Asked whether the general election could be held this year instead of next year as proposed by Gen Chavalit, Gen Prawit said the timetable to democracy had long been declared in the country's roadmap and clearly written in the interim charter.
Under the roadmap, an election would be held in 2017, he added.
On Gen Chavalit's call for the NCPO to relinquish its power and hold an election this year, Gen Prawit said the former prime minister "should take a rest".
"He is very old and should take a rest. I am old too and want to rest," Gen Prawit said.
"I am staying here now only to help the prime minister who has made sacrifices for the country. I want to make it clear that I will not be in politics. My physical condition is deteriorating due to my current workload.
"It's useless to speak out. Please convey my message to him [Gen Chavalit] that I want him to rest."
On Gen Chavalit's mention of a terrorist organisation called Black Swan, allegedly affiliated to terror group, Islamic State, and infiltrating the deep South, Gen Prawit said he had never heard of it.
Gen Chavalit asked last week if the government was aware the group, which he claimed was an IS affiliate, establishing a presence in the South.
Security officials dismissed his claims saying they were monitoring any possible movements of IS and no signs of the group's presence had been detected.
If Gen Chavalit could affirm his information is true, he should take him to inspect the "alleged IS movement in the South", Gen Prawit said.
Asked whether he would talk to Gen Chavalit, who was his senior at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Gen Prawit said it wasn't necessary.
Regarding an invitation by an international organisation for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be a guest speaker on the political situation in Thailand in New York next month, Gen Prawit said he was "not concerned'' about the matter.
However, he said Thaksin should speak out only on topics that benefit the country, adding that seeking to foment conflicts could hold back the country's progress.
Thaksin gave interviews to the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, published online on Feb 21, in which he criticised the draft charter. He kept up a similar line of attack in an interview yesterday with Al Jazeera from Singapore.
As a Thai, the ex-premier should love the country, said Gen Prawit, adding he believes Thaksin does. Thaksin said the draft charter harms Thailand's fragile economy and appears aimed at prolonging the military regime's hold on power.
