TEMPO.CO, Bangkok – Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said elections that would initially be held nex year would be delayed until 2016. "We will be able to organize elections around the start of 2016 once the constitution is drafted," said Prawit as quoted by Reuters on Thursday.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha previously hinted a delay in the elections’ schedule. He said next year was the time to completely dispel the political influence of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thai Finance Minister Sommai Phasee said the elections could be delayed even further by “a year and a half”, which means Thai citizens will have to hold on for much longer under the military junta rule.
One of the reasons why the government delayed the elections is due to the National Council for Peace and Order. "We are not asking for much. Just a year to resolve past problems,” he said.
Thailand has been tangled in political crises since the toppling of Thaksin. The military took over the government last May in order to avoid bloodshed after months of violence to remove Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, from her position as prime miniter.
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