THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Election delay beyond Nov 2018 possible: CDC chair

Election delay beyond Nov 2018 possible: CDC chair

The Constitution Drafting Commission chairman Meechai Ruchuphan on Thursday refused to rule out the possibility that election date would not be announced until after November next year, when he expects that all essential organic laws will be enacted.

That scenario was raised by PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha during talks with the Thai community in Washington DC, implying that the election could be expected in 2019.
Prayut’s newest, and third, version of an election timeline means that the election could be delayed by several months beyond the last announced deadline as calculated based on language in the new charter.
In a brief comment, Meechai said that the CDC is required to finish drafting new organic laws within 240 days after the charter was promulgated, or this December 1.
It is impossible predict the impact of other procedures that could affect implementation of the required legislation that could push the election trigger beyond next November, said the chief charter drafter.
The charter does not stipulate of how much time the CDC will be given to amend the bill drafts if they are returned with proposed changes from the National Legislative Assembly, he said.
According to the charter, the CDC would be dissolved once it has submitted the last of 10 organic law drafts to the NLA for deliberation. Thus, it is possible that any draft organic law being deliberated by the legislature could be returned for amendment to a CDC that was already defunct.

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