Thailand’s new general election will be held in July at the earliest and in September at the latest, the country’s Election Commission (EC) said on April 22.

EC secretary general Puchong Nutravong said in his agency’s negotiations with the 53 political parties on the same day that, the polling agency offered three tentative choices of election date: July 20, August 17 or September 14.

Also the same day, the meeting between the Thai Government and the opposition parties to discuss the plan for the election did not reach any new conclusions because the main opposition Democrat Party (DP) did not join the talks.

DP leader and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cited “security reasons" for the absence of himself and his party colleagues from the meeting.

On the threshold of the meeting, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s ruling Pheu Thai Party criticised schemes from the opposition to disrupt the upcoming polls.

The political crisis in Thailand has lasted many months and the country’s government and parliament have not operated uninterruptedly since December last year. Meanwhile, a Thai constitutional tribunal has decided that the election held last February is not valid.-VNA