Demonstrators have gathered on the streets of Bangkok for the third time in less than a week to protest the rumoured postponement of Thailand’s general election by the ruling military junta.
The row dates back to 2014, when the Royal Thai Armed Forces overthrew the interim government put in place following the controversial removal from office of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Power was then seized by the military junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which later promised to hold elections “by the end of 2015”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This was subsequently pushed back to “around August or in September” of 2016, before Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister who heads the military government, pledged that a general election would be held sometime in November 2018. In January 2018, the government voted to push back the vote again, agreeing on the February date.
The latest wave of anger from pro-democracy protesters was triggered by an announcement on 3 January that the elections might be postponed once more so that the government could focus on preparations for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, taking place in May, The Straits Times reports.
Channel News Asia notes that the Thai king has yet to sign a decree that explicitly allows the Election Commission to announce an official vote date.
A campaign group known as “We Vote” said it organised the protests in Bangkok, along with marches in other cities across the country. One of the group’s leaders, Nuttaa Mahattana, said on Facebook: “The objective for today is to secure a date for the election after five postponements.”
Such demonstrations were banned until December, when the military government lifted restrictions on political gatherings ahead of the expected poll, Bloomberg reports.
Thailand’s last universally recognised election took place in 2011. Another poll was held in 2014 but was invalidated by the constitutional court shortly before the junta took power.
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
‘France may well be in store for a less than rocambolesque future’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
7 of the best narco TV series of all timeThe Week Recommends From Colombia to the California suburbs, every drug kingpin has a familiar and tragic trajectory
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Thailand, Cambodia agree to ceasefire in border fightSpeed Read At least 38 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced in the recent violence
-
At least 12 dead in Thai-Cambodian clashesSpeed Read Both countries accused the other of firing first
-
The mounting tensions between Thailand and CambodiaThe Explainer Long-running border disputes are at a decade high, as protesters in Thailand demand the prime minister's resignation
