Thai interim rule by September
June 13, 2014
Speaking to senior military officials on Friday, Thai General Prayuth Chan-ocha outlined a plan to reintroduce political order in the southeast Asian country. Military rule has been in place in Thailand since May 22.
"A government will be set up by August, or at the very latest September," Prayuth said at a meeting of the military officials, who were deliberating over the 2015 national budget.
However, the military junta leader declined to detail who would be installed to head the transitional government.
"Don't ask me who they are and where they come from," he added.
Prayuth, who headed the coup, said at the time that the military would restore order amid heightened public unrest, which threatened to spin out of control after Thailand's Constitutional Court found then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra guilty of corruption.
However, the military has since moved to silence it critics, arresting over 250 people, including members of the government it ousted, other politicians, activists and journalists. It has also clamped down on attempts by its opponents to stage mass demonstrations.
Since the takeover, the military has detained high-ranking political figures, including former Prime Minister Yingluck, most of the deposed government's Cabinet, and dozens of politicians and activists.
Elections next year
On Friday, the Thai general said that general elections would take place in one year at the earliest, emphasizing that the country must not rush the political process.
"In the next three months we must do everything properly, whether it is the constitution or other matters. Everything for the first phase should be complete by August," Prayuth said, referring to the selection of a transitional government.
Thailand was headed by a caretaker government in the lead up to the May coup. Following snap elections in February, after months of mass anti-government protests, the Constitutional Court nullified the results because protesters had disrupted the polls. However, the forced resignation of then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra unleashed a new wave of unrest, pitting her supporters against Thai citizens seeking a new government.
kms/ipj (AFP, Reuters)