“I don’t expect answers favourable to me,” Prayut wrote in response to reporters’ questions. “I want to encourage the public to learn and think how they can contribute to good governance.

“This has nothing to do with me because people will make their decisions, with proper consideration when they vote,” he wrote.

Prayut refused to take questions from reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. His written responses were distributed by the Government Spokespersons team to reporters via the Line application later on.

On Monday Prayut had vowed to stop giving interviews for a couple of weeks after he being slammed by politicians for the questions he had raised on Friday during his 50-minute-long weekly television programme, “Returning Happiness to the People of the Country”.

The questions he had posed were:

Do you think the next election will give Thailand a government with good governance? If that is not the case, what will you do?

Elections are an integral part of democracy but are elections without regard for the country’s future right or wrong? Do you think bad politicians should be given the chance to return to politics, and if conflict re-emerges, who will solve it and by what means?

Prayut also encouraged members of the public to submit their answers to the Damrongdhamma Centre’s provincial branches, who would forward the responses to the Interior Ministry.

Politicians and academics accused Prayut of attempting to take political advantage ahead of the election by posting such biased questions, especially during a period when the junta has maintained its ban on political gatherings of more than four people, and prevented political parties from functioning properly.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, meanwhile, said the four questions posed by the prime minister reflect his lack of confidence in the new Constitution’s so-called corruption-suppressing mechanism.

Abhisit said that if the ruling junta failed to answer the questions, it meant that the coup had not led to intended results.

In response to the PM’s question regarding good governance, the veteran politician said whether it was through election, appointment or coup, there was no guarantee the government members would have good governance.

“But you have a better chance of getting leaders with good governance if democracy continues without interruptions,” he added.