TEMPO.CO, Bangkok – Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday endorsed military’s interim constitution comprising the role of junta government before transfer to the civil government from the results of general election that will be held in the next few months.
Junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha announced the king’s endorsement in National Council for Peace and Order’s (NSPO) meeting yesterday. "His majesty the king will grant an audience to General Prayuth and will endorse an interim constitution," a senior official at the Bureau of the Royal Household told Reuters.
General Prayuth will meet King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, in Klai Kangwon Palace in the seaside town of Hua Hin. The king has been living in Hua Hin after spending four years in hospital in Bangkok until August 2013.
The interim constitution will open up a path for the establishment of national legislative assembly, interim government and Reform Council.
General Prayuth said a legislative body would be formed in a month or after Thailand had an interim constitution. An interim government will established in September and the Reform Council will be established in October.
The military junta led by General Prayuth took over the government on May 22 and disabled Thai constitution after months of political crisis in Bangkok in an attempt to oust former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. At least 30 people were killed in the crisis.
Yingluck was forcibly removed from her position by the Constitutional Court on May 7 after being guilty of alleged abuse of power. Her cabinet was overthrown by a military coup two week slater. Last week, the military junta then permitted Yingluck to go overseas to celebrate the 65th birthday of her brother, former Prie Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in Paris on July 26.
REUTERS | BANGKOK POST | THE NATION | NATALIA SANTI