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Thailand : General Election 1̶9̶ ̶A̶u̶g̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶8̶
What's the point, just "re-electing" the fascists again, with a more user friendly label. Don.'t bother, if they are gonna stay there, then leave them there as the junta dictatorship.
The next general election might be again postponed after a Deputy Prime Minister said that he is uncertain if the organic laws can be finalised within 2018.
On 5 September 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan told the media at Government House that the next general election remains unscheduled as the drafting of organic laws is not yet finished.
This statement contradicts the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) who announced a day earlierGen Prawit Wongsuwan (Photo from Matichon)
Thailand has taken another step closer to general elections after the promulgation of the new junta-written election commission law. New election commissioners will be selected by the 250 junta-appointed senators.
On 13 September 2017, the Organic Act on the Election Commission was published in the Royal Gazette after being passed by the National Legislative Assembly on 8 September. The Act dismisses the current election commissioners but they will continue as caretakers until new commissioners are appointed.
Article 8 of the Act states that the King shall appoint commissioners on the recommendation of the Senate, and according to Section 269 of the 2017 Constitution, the first 250 senators will all be appointed by the ruling junta to serve for five years after the first general election.
The Organic Act on the Election Commission was drafted by the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee and is one of the four key organic laws which have to be passed before the long-awaited general election can be held. The other three are the organic acts on general elections, on the selection of senators, and on political parties.
The current ECT recently announced that the general election will be held on 18 August 2018. However, since organic acts on general elections and the selection of senators have not been drafted, this date could be postponed again.
Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan has also said that he cannot guarantee
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. (Government House photo)
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has insisted that he told US President Donald Trump that he would announce the election date late next year, not that the election will be held next year.
His confirmation has sparked criticism that his roadmap contradicts the Thai-US joint statement issued earlier.
Gen Prayut took a few minutes of his televised programme on Friday night to clarify his remark made during his visit to the United States about the political roadmap and a general election.
He said he assured Mr Trump during his visit the Thai government was adhering to the roadmap to democracy and there would be elections next year.
"President Trump didn't ask me about the issue, but I was able to assure him of the current administration's commitment to the roadmap, informing him that there will be elections by the end of next year, but by that I mean an election date would be announced late next year," he said.
"From then, the election will be held 150 days following the announcement," Gen Prayut said.
His remark implied the election would take place in 2019, later than previously indicated.
The prime minister told a group of Thais in Washington, DC earlier that the organic laws needed for a general election would likely not be enacted until November 2018.
Gen Prayut came under heavy criticism for causing confusion about when the national polls would take place. His timetable did not correspond to what the critics believed.
According to the 2017 constitution, elections must be held within 150 days, or five months, of the organic laws being passed. Those laws are expected to be completed within eight months of the promulgation of the charter.
While Gen Prayut stressed that only an election date would be announced next year, critics cited a joint statement between Thailand and the US issued after the meeting of the two leaders to claim Gen Prayut promised the polls would be held next year.
Pheu Thai's former energy minister Pichai Naripthaphan yesterday called on the government to clarify Item 8 on the US-Thai joint statement released on Oct 2.
Item 8 reads: "Recognising Thailand's strategic importance to the United States and the region, President Trump welcomed Thailand's commitment to the roadmap, which, upon completion of relevant organic laws as stipulated by the constitution, will lead to free and fair elections in 2018. The two leaders also recognised the importance of protecting and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Mr Pichai said the Foreign Ministry should review the conversation between the two leaders and inform the US if there is a misunderstanding about the issue and set the record straight.
He said the government's flip-flop on the election would further erode the international community's confidence in the country.
Former Democrat MP Charoen Khanthawong yesterday urged the prime minister to commit to the current roadmap that would see the election take place next year.
If elections were to be postponed for whatever reason, the government should let the public see for themselves what contributed to the delay, said Mr Charoen.
"The people want to see elections because they don't think the government is doing enough to address the problems. If things don't pan out as said, the people will be disappointed. I don't want his popularity to slide," said Mr Charoen.
Meanwhile, Gen Prayut, during the televised programme, rejected criticism that his visit was to negotiate weapon purchases with the US, saying state procurement plans must undergo due process.
The military claimed the new charter, Thailand's 20th, will purge Thailand of corrupt civilian politicians and restore stability after nearly a decade of political turmoil including two coups.
The country has been bitterly divided ever since a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister.
Years of competing protests and instability followed. In 2014, the army seized power once more, toppling Thaksin's sister Yingluck.
The Shinawatra clan has won all general elections since 2001, harvesting votes by promising greater wealth and opportunity to the rural poor.
But the family is loathed by an arch-royalist Bangkok elite which is backed by the military, and by southern voters who accuse the Shinawatras of corruption and populism.
Last month, Yingluck was sentenced in absentia to five years in jail after she was found guilty of negligence in a rice subsidy case.
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