BANGKOK The military rulers of Thailand unveiled an interim Constitution on Sunday that extends draconian emergency laws for another year and gives the military significant sway over the new government and its prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, a retired general whose appointment was also made official Sunday. Only days after the junta sought to portray itself as fading into the background, the interim Constitution, approved by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, appears to buttress the military's role in Thai politics. The Constitution gives the leaders of the Sept. 19 coup, who will now be known as the National Security Council, the power to select members of a drafting committee that will write a permanent Constitution. The document unveiled Sunday also prohibits political parties from taking part in that process, effectively sidelining all existing parties for the next year. Among the strictures that will remain in place are a ban on gatherings of more than five people and limits on press freedom, including an order for journalists to report "constructively" and the right of the authorities to censor any reports deemed unhelpful and contrary to national unity. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, described the contents of the interim Constitution as both predictable and "alarming." "The problem for the military is that they are in deep now," Thitinan said. "They haven't done what they set out to do, which was to get rid of Thaksin, hand over power to a civilian government and step aside. They have not stepped aside." The dominant role played by the military in the Constitution leaves little room for a re-entry into politics of Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed as prime minister in the coup. Apparently sensing they were no longer a threat, the military released four of Thaksin's closest political associates Sunday, including the former prime minister's deputy, Chidchai Vanasathidya. All four men had been detained since the coup. In a televised ceremony, Surayud, the new prime minister, was shown Sunday evening with the coup leader, Sonthi Boonyaratglin. "His majesty the king appoints General Surayud Chulanont as the 24th prime minister of Thailand from now onwards," Sonthi said. Sonthi placed the king's order of Surayud's appointment on a table, and both he and Surayud kneeled before a portrait of the king, whose blessing of the coup helped sway the public toward supporting the military. Asked in a live television interview what kind of prime minister he would be, Surayud replied, "Friendly to every party, trying to receive information from every side and meeting people as much as possible." "I will lead a government based on justice," Surayud said. His two priorities, he said, would be addressing the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that has killed more than 1,700 people and leading the country out of its political crisis. Over the past week several names had been mentioned for the post of prime minister, including the former head of the World Trade Organization, Supachai Panitchpakdi. The selection of Surayud, a former chief of the army, will do little to convince skeptics that the interim government is entirely civilian in nature. Surayud, who received part of his military training in the United States, is both a paradoxical and a popular choice. Over the past decade he has told interviewers and his official biographer that the military should stay out of politics. Thailand had developed enough politically that coups were no longer necessary, he said a decade ago. He was head of the special forces in 1992 when soldiers under his command fired on students who were protesting against the last government installed by the military. Surayud later claimed he did not give the order to shoot and has called the incident, which killed about 50 people, "a scar for the army." But most Thais have a more recent memory of Surayud, starting in 1998 when he was named by Chuan Leekpai, the prime minister at the time, as the head of the army and charged with cleaning up the military's image. He was widely praised for his efforts to modernize the army. He kept the position of army commander until 2002, when, after clashing with Thaksin, he was transferred to a less powerful post. In 2003 he retired from the army, briefly became a Buddhist monk and was asked to join the king's Privy Council. "It is ironic that the man who in fact reformed the entire military system and made the army professional is now taking this position as prime minister, post-coup," said Kraisak Choonhavan, a former senator who once called Surayud "the first professional army chief in modern Thai history." Surayud must go out of his way to show Thais that his administration will not be "regressive and conservative," Kraisak said. Surayud is to select his cabinet in the next few days. The Constitution says the prime minister will be answerable to a National Assembly made up citizens chosen by the National Security Council with the king's consent. Thitinan of Chulalongkorn University predicted that Surayud would interpret the draconian measures, such as those banning freedom of assembly, "flexibly." But he said the army would see its primary job as maintaining control. "They have to prevent Thaksin supporters from coming out," Thitinan said. "They have to prevent civil society rumblings from getting out of hand. The enforcement will be the key."