Thai PM hints elections could be delayed

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Thai PM hints elections could be delayed

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 October, 2014, 3:18am
UPDATED : Thursday, 16 October, 2014, 3:18am

Reuters in Bangkok

Prayuth said reforms were needed before the election. Photo: AFP

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a military coup in May, said that elections planned for 2015 would depend on whether wide-ranging national reforms could be completed within a year.

The former army chief's remarks add to speculation that a general election promised for late 2015 could be pushed back and delay Thailand's return to democracy after a coup in May.

Prayuth made his remarks yesterday as he prepared to board a plane in Bangkok to attend an Asia-Europe Meeting in Milan.

"I outlined a road map. The election must come with a new constitution and 11 reform areas," said Prayuth. "Everything depends on the road map so we must see first if the road map can be completed. Elections take time to organise."

The army seized power in a bloodless coup following months of tumult - a move condemned by Western nations who urged Thailand to return to elections.

Despite Prayuth hanging up his military uniform - he retired as army chief last month - he has kept a firm grip on power. The military has quashed most dissent, threatening or arresting critics of the coup.

The reforms are partly aimed at ending the political influence of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a former telecoms tycoon who upset the establishment with populist policies that won him the votes of the poor.

Thaksin was deposed in a previous coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile abroad.

Six months of street protests destabilised a government led by his sister, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, before she was ordered by a constitutional court to step down in May after being found guilty of abuse of power. The army took over days later.

Prayuth has outlined a three-phase road map designed to mend a country that plunged into political crisis almost a decade ago following the coup against Thaksin.

Last month Prayuth handpicked a 250-member National Reform Council - a body to recommend social, political and economic reforms and to approve a new constitution.

A human rights group last month urged the European Union to press Prayuth to restore democracy quickly.

Prayuth appeared unruffled as he prepared to board his plane. "Our participation in this meeting is to show that Thailand is still a player on the international stage even though Thailand is in a period of change," Prayuth said.