Post-coup leaders hope for early Thai elections

Thailand’s post-coup elections could take place earlier than October if the constitution is drafted ahead of schedule, officials said today.

After ousting the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19, coup leaders promised elections by October this year, preceded by the drafting of a new constitution.

The charter’s 100-member Constitution Drafting Council was set up on January 7, and the charter was expected to take 180 days to complete.

“The drafting of the constitution may finish within 130 days, meaning the general election could take place sooner than originally planned,” Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said, according to government spokesman Yongyuth Maiyalarb.

Surayud made the comments in a meeting with Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. After the constitution is drafted, it must be approved by a referendum before elections can be called.

Coup leaders, led by army chief Gen Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, annulled the 1997 constitution, saying they planned to forge a new one to eliminate loopholes that allowed Thaksin to gather great power and erode the country’s democratic institutions.