Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun endorsed the last two bills that were required for the country to hold a general election which is now expected to take place between February and May next year.
This is the closest the country has come to holding an election under the current military regime that has been in power since 2014.
The bills which state the rules for the lower house election and selection procedures for senators were published in the Royal Gazette, the government’s public journal, on Wednesday. The lower house election law will take effect 90 days after publication. The constitution states that a general election must follow within 150 days from the enactment of the law, which means that it will be held by May at the latest.
This is a time frame that the military government had pointed to and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had even suggested that the election could be held as early as Feb. 24.
The junta chief also said earlier that political activities, which had been banned since the military seized power, could resume gradually by the end of this month.
The election will be the first to be held in the country since February 2014 when the election was later ruled to be invalid by the constitutional court. The last “valid” election was held in 2011 and won by the Pheu Thai Party led by fugitive former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. A coup led by Prayuth toppled the Yingluck regime in May 2014.
Initially, the junta had promised to hold an election by October 2015. But the dates have repeatedly been pushed back and it is remains to be seen if the latest promise will be kept. Prayuth said earlier said that the election will be held only after the coronation ceremony of King Vajiralongkorn but that date has not yet been announced.
Some political experts say that Prayuth could even resort to using his special powers provided under the constitution to delay the election if he sees more time is required to establish a solid support base for a pro-military party.
