Prayut ponders martial law lifting
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said Thursday that he is pondering about lifting the martial law and turning to use other laws, including the interim charter's provision that gives him "absolute power".
When asked whether the Cabinet meeting in Hua Hin, Prachuab Kiri Khan, Friday would consider replacing the martial law enforcement with other laws he pointed at his head and said: “I have been thinking [that] for a long time.”
A source said that the chief of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the NCPO members were thinking to replace the martial law with three laws - emergency decree, Internal Security Act, and the Article 44 of the Provisional Constitution,
The article 44 empowers the NCPO leader to issue any order "for the sake of the reforms in any field, the promotion of love and harmony amongst the people in the nation, or the prevention, abatement or suppression of any act detrimental to national order or security, royal throne, national economy or public administration, whether the act occurs inside or outside the kingdom". The orders so issued are all deemed "lawful, constitutional and final"
Asked if Article 44 was an option, he said with a smile that “I’m thinking. We will try our best to make officials comfortable when doing their duties.”
