Thai general election to be put off until 2016 - Prime Minister
10 Jan Press TV
Thailand’s prime minister says a general election originally expected
to be held next year would be postponed to 2016.
“It is up to the constitutional drafting process,” Prayuth Chan-ocha
said late Wednesday, confirming his deputy prime minister’s remarks that
polls would be delayed to February 2016.
“Once the constitution is done, then it would be up to the election
commission to stage elections,” he added.The junta leader further
dismissed reports that he wanted to remain in his position, saying he
was only in power to serve his country.“If you want me to leave, then
tell me to go. That is, if you want this country to fail,” Prayuth
said.Earlier on Tuesday, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam
said following talks with W. Patrick Murphy, US charge d’ affaires in
the Asian country, that the poll would be delayed until February 2016 at
the earliest, a delay Washington later called “unwise and unjustified.”
The current government came to power following a bloody military coup
in May.
The May 22 coup against ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was
justified by the military as an attempt to restore order after months of
political upheaval that killed nearly 30 people. Thailand is currently
ruled by an interim charter that gives the military government sweeping
powers.
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