Bangkok – Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs, Wissanu Krea-Ngam has indicated that the exact date of the next general election will be announced in June.
Asked about National Legislative Assembly President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai’s comment that the election will be postponed until March 2019, Wissanu said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will issue an order calling on related agencies to discuss an election date in June, which is after the enactment of all election related laws.
At present, he said it is still difficult to predict when the election will take place.
When asked what would happen if the joint committee formed by the legislature decided not to accept the last two organic bills governing the elections of the lower and upper houses, Wissanu said the 2017 constitution doesn’t specify who should be responsible for a rewrite, meaning the government can either form a new committee to redraft the laws or let the Constitution Drafting Commission rewrite them.
The most likely scenario is that the incumbent charter drafting team would take up the responsibility if the bills are rejected.
