Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (Photo: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Thai Prime Minister PrayuthChan-ocha reiterated on May 22 that the general election will take place inearly 2019 and no sooner, rejecting the possibility of an earlier election asrequested by the opposition party.
He made the statement when hundreds of protesters weregathering in Bangkok to demand the vote to be held in November.
About 200 protestors took to the streets in the capitalcity in a march held by the opposition party to mark the fourth anniversary ofa coup in 2014 that toppled then PrimeMinister Yingluck Shinawatra and led to the establishment of a junta government.
Theyplanned to march from Thammasat University to the Government House early in theday but were blocked by rows of police.
OnMay 21, Thai police declared Bangkok’s Government House and surrounding streetsa no-go zone for the planned opposition march and warned the protesters not todefy the junta ban on public gatherings. The police expected around 1,000protesters to gather on May 22.
Themilitary government initially promised to hold a general election in 2015 buthas pushed back the date several times.
Thai PrimeMinister Prayut Chan-ocha on May 1 reassured that the general election will bedefinitely held in early 2019. The statement was made amid the anti-juntaactivists’ warning to stage a large-scale demonstration in May.
It was not the first time the chief of the Thai military government promisedthat the election would take place no later than February 2019. The PM said theelection has been postponed several times due to legal process and theinternational community would understand it.-VNA
VNA
