BANGKOK, 13 January 2014 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has assigned her deputy Pongthep Thepkanchana to invite all relevant parties to a discussion about the possibility of postponing the general election as requested by the Election Commission (EC).
Upon the Prime Minister’s instruction, Mr Pongthep will tomorrow send out invitation letters to various parties to attend a meeting this Wednesday on whether or not the February 2 poll could be rescheduled. Those to be invited include representatives from the EC, the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Council of State, political parties and private organizations as well as protest groups.
Ms Yingluck, who will be the chair of the meeting, stated that the government’s invitation would be made based on sincere intentions in order to allow all sides, either pro- or anti-election, to jointly deliberate the possibility of deferring the election date as previously recommended by the EC. She, however, insisted that national reform would not be included in the topics.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Surapong Tovichakchaikul has urged the EC to be more precise in its approaches to adjourning the poll and claimed that the government does not have the authority by law to do so.
