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If elections are expected next year, military-ruled Thailand will be under a new government by June, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Thursday.
He vowed that the general election would be pushed through as planned on Feb. 24, nearly five years after the military seized power.
Official results of the election would be announced no later than April 24, followed by a meeting of parliament on May 8 to select the prime minister.
"According to the constitutional regulations, the election commission makes preparations for the election date which should be the last Sunday of February, which is Feb. 24, "Wissanu told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.
Incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha Yingluck Shinawatra, May 22, 2014.
Wissanu said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as it was officially known, would remain in power until the formation of a new firm.
"May 8 is the first meeting of the national assembly as well as the last day of this cabinet. However, the NCPO will still remain in power until next year, "Wissanu said.
The military junta has gone back to the past for elections at least four times.
Wissanu's announcement on political timelines A month after Prayuth confirmed Bangkok's plans to hold the election in February during a meeting in Tokyo with Japan's counterpart Shinzo Abe.
Elections Commission to consider EU request
Meanwhile, it was said that the European Union would be going to the European Union.
"Initially, we'll stick to what we've always done. If they come to observe constructively, comply with related laws and regulations and do not cause problems in the process, there is no reason to deny their request, "said Ittiporn Boonpracong, chairman of Thailand's Election Commission.
He told the Bangkok Post that the commission would start considering the request in two weeks, explaining that election authorities were busy redrawing constituencies.
Uchane Cheangsan, a political science professor at Walailuck University, said Thais have been anxiously awaiting the elections.
"The Thai society wants to vote," Uchane told BenarNews. "People are tired with Prayuth. Deep down inside, I think people are aware what has happened with the country. They want to have a new government that is not [led by] Prayuth.
After taking power, Prayuth dissolved parliament, and political leaders in the United States.
During the past four years, Prayuth's government has returned Thailand to relative economic strength, with growing domestic product (GDP) growing to 4 percent and exports to a seven-year high.
But a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report states that the United States has repeatedly failed to fulfill its pledge to the United States.
Instead, it says, "Prayuth curtailed people's rights to free speech and peaceful assembly and orchestrated the 2017 Constitution," which will be unaccountable and abusive military power. "
The military-backed constitution, which was adopted through a national referendum in August 2016, contains provisions that allow the military to add seats to the Senate and all its members, HRW said.
The military controls 143 out of 250 parliamentary seats, reports said. Under the previous junta after the 2006 coup, the military held 67 of 242 seats.
Under Prayuth's leadership, Thailand also clamped down on dissent, arresting pro-democracy activists and critics, and banning large-scale political rallies and demonstrations.
The junta-backed parliament also passed an array of laws aimed at gagging free speech, rights activists said, in a country that already has Lese-Majeste, a strict anti-royal defamation law that forbids insults to members of the Thai monarchy.
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