Politicians from the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties said the retired general should first set up his own party, offer a policy platform, and win the hearts of the people in order to gracefully assume the PM’s office again.

The advice came after Prayut, who also heads the National Council for Peace and Order, offered to continue serving as government head after the election, but only in a democratic and dignified way.

Worachai Hema, a former Pheu Thai MP and red-shirt leader, said yesterday that General Prayutwas doing the opposite of what he had always stated: that he did not want to play politics.

The politician advised Prayut he must not take power as an outsider or it would not be graceful.

“If [people] see him coming to power through irregular channels, it will not be dignified,” he said. “He has written a constitution which has already passed a referendum. He should just set up a party and enter the field and play by the rules. If he wins the people’s votes, every party will accept it, but if he rides on the Senate’s support, it will lack legitimacy.”

Worachai added that he wanted Prayut to prove himself in an election so that it would be clear how |the public felt about him after all |this time that he has run the country.

The referendum results were vague about whether or not people liked the general as a premier, he said.

Weng Tojirakarn, a key member of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, said that if Prayut regarded support from the 250 NCPO-appointed senators as “a democratic means”, it would be “a big disgrace”.

Another red-shirt leader Nattawut Saikua said that allow-|ing an outsider PM after the election does not mean Prayut would be coming through democratic means. Prayut would only be regaining power via a mechanism he set up to serve his own interests.

“He staged a coup, then appointed a panel to write a constitution unique from the rest of the world. Then he selected 250 senators just to raise hands to select him as PM. This is not democratic at all,” Nattawut said.

The red-shirt leader added that he would not oppose if Prayut had already made up his mind. Nattawut said he has been waiting for the general to be in the same position as a politician in Parliament so that he would be scrutinised by the House members and the public.

Likewise, Democrat Party deputy leader Nipit Intrasombat said Prayut could set up a new party and have the members nominate him. This is the most graceful way to become a PM, the Democrat said.

However, the Democrat Party would continue to support its leader to become prime minister through constitutional means, Nipit added.

Another former Democrat MP Watchara Petchthong said he was not surprised that Prayut had signalled his ambition to remain in office even after the next election. But he and his Democrat colleagues would back party leader Abhisit to be the government head if the party wins a majority in the election, the politician added.

“But if anyone or any party wishes to support General Prayut, then it’s up to them,” Watchara said.

Political analyst Sukhum Nualsakul said yesterday that what Prayut meant by stepping up gracefully was that he had to have the support from the 250 senators and some political parties in the Lower House. However, the analyst declined to comment whether the public would sharePrayut‘s idea of “democratic dignity”.