Thai military junta gains majority support to stay on: poll

BANGKOK (Xinhua) - A majority of Thais have agreed to an interim charter provision that allows the military junta to remain to coexist with a forthcoming interim government, an opinion poll released Sunday showed.

The interim charter which took effect last Tuesday stipulates that the coup-making National Council for Peace and Administration (NCPO) stay on after an interim government takes shape and be tasked with handling security affairs while overseeing and consulting with the government.

The majority, or 79.94 percent, of 1,256 respondents surveyed on July 24 and 25 voiced support for the continued existence of the NCPO, according to NIDA Poll by the National Institute of Development Administration.

About 11 percent of the respondents, who were from various educational and occupational backgrounds, expressed disagreements and the rest gave no comments, the poll showed.

Meanwhile, more than 66 percent said they had been happier since the May 22 coup because of diminished political turmoil, according to the poll.

In a related development, the NCPO received an approval rate of 8.87 out of 10 for its two-month performance, higher than the 8.82 for its first-month evaluation, another survey by Suan Dusit Poll showed Sunday.

Around 92 percent of the 1,689 people who were surveyed nationwide between July 22 and 26 said they were satisfied, to different extents, with the NCPO's performance.

The majority of them said the NCPO had done satisfactorily in maintaining peace and order, as well as administering the country.